


State of Our Condition

by GoddessofRoyalty



Series: Prompt Fics [8]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mpreg, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2018-09-02 14:36:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8671345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoddessofRoyalty/pseuds/GoddessofRoyalty
Summary: Prompt: omega!Kylo and alpha!Hux defected from the first order, stranded on a planet with no civilization. Kylo is pregnant (result of an unwanted mating during his heat). Hux is not the father.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Full prompt: omega!Kylo and alpha!Hux defected from the first order, stranded on a planet with no civilization. Kylo is pregnant (result of an unwanted mating during his heat). Hux is not the father. They stumble through the wilderness, with Kylo becoming weaker and frailer the more the child in his womb grows. Hux is at first annoyed by Kylo and the whole situation but fast becomes protective and concerned about the omega.
> 
> So this got really weirdly real-world metaphor heavy at the start. Forgive me for that. 
> 
> Title is from Robinson Crusoe (I wouldn’t suggest reading it) 
> 
> Also I have plans for Millicent (that aren’t dying don’t worry about that) so she’s been included for actual reasons (also I’ve never written a fic with her before so I’m taking the chance). 
> 
> Also “stumble through” is going to be more “stumble around in” so hopefully you don’t mind that slight alteration to the prompt. 
> 
> Finally current gameplan is 5 chapters but that might change (originally it was 4 but this one got split in half) 
> 
> Warnings: omegaverse, mpreg, past-rape, wildness survival
> 
> Pairings: Hux/Kylo (eventually), other/Kylo (past)

Hux should never have agreed to this.

Only rats abandon sinking ships first and the Captain is supposed to go down with it. He is the Captain of the ship. He is supposed to go down on the ship. He won’t allow himself to go down on that ship.

The First Order is sinking. The First Order is failing and Hux feels as if he is the only one that can see it. He is the only one that can see that history is repeating itself and much like the Empire before it the First Order will fall to the Resistance.

Hux does not play on falling with it.

Still, he should never have agreed to the plan.

The first indication of that was the fact it was cooked up in Kylo Ren’s mind. Ren is powerful and a useful ally but thinking things through is a skill he seemed to miss. He is too often blinded by emotion and Hux knew this was a decision fuelled by emotion. Fuelled by the feeling of weakness and betrayal and _shame._ Of torment and a leader’s lack of compassion towards the result of it.

Kylo had come to him with a plan and Hux had been a fool to agree to it.

He realises, as Kylo pilots the craft out of the hanger and into space, that it is too late to back out.

The ease of it all unnerves him and he finds himself unable to remain passively sitting. So he stands and walks over to where Ren is setting up the autopilot.

“Where are you taking us?”

“A smuggler’s outpost,” Ren replies, apparently uncaring that Hux would prefer just the _name_ of the planet. Hearing what is there reminds him too much of their plan. “We’ll be able to find someone to buy this one and get a new one.”

“And then?”

“And then everyone will be unable to track us,” Kylo says because that is all there is for the second half of their plan: get a clean ship then go… somewhere.

Hux should never have agreed to this plan. It is too sloppy. Too poorly thought out.

Kylo finishes setting up the navigations and moves away from the controls. Hux knows if he really wanted he could go look at the name of the place they are flying to. He doesn’t want to. He already knows what it will be: one of the criminal hubs of the galaxy. One of the places he had envisaged the First Order eradicating.

“Ugh. Shoo. Remind me again why you brought that infernal thing? I would prefer it if you had brought one of your pathetic underlings along.”

Hux turns as the cat rushes towards him, fleeing the ire of the other. She reaches his legs and circles them, content that he will keep her safe.

“She is more loyal then most of my officers. Useful to. I don’t plan on allowing any vermin inevitably on the ship we purchase a home for long.” There is a sentiment to keeping her as well. He is fonder of Millicent then he is of any ‘sentient’ being in the galaxy. He wasn’t leaving her on the sinking ship if he was jumping off.

“I still think poison is more effective,” Kylo replies.

“Yes well what will we do once the child is born? We can’t have them accidently ingesting it.” He gives a pointed look at Kylo’s stomach. It doesn’t show anything. He is still much too early and wearing clothes much too dense but they both know it to be there. If for no other reason than the chance in his scent. Kylo Ren may have previously masked the sweet scent of omega through the use of perfume and incense. Now though, even if he tried to, the scent of _child_ would overpower anything.

Kylo scowls but he doesn’t say anything in retort. Just turns and storms out of the cockpit into the main body of the ship. Hux knows he has won the argument.

He soon finds that he has nothing to do. No task to complete or form to fill. Just time to wait out until the ship gets them to their destination. He has a feeling idleness is something he will have to get used to. He will have to find something to fill his time. He refuses to end up like the rest of the scum of the galaxy – wasting it and their money on rigged games, disease-ridden whores, and cheap booze. He may be becoming one of them but he refuses to lower himself to their level.

Millicent at least seems pleased with his newfound idleness. She curls into his lap and happily enjoys the pats she is given.

She flees when the alarm starts sounding.

“Who found us?” Hux asks as Kylo races into the room to look at the source of the alarm before Hux himself has a chance to.

His words are ignored and he goes to ask them again, to demand an answer, when Kylo speaks up first.

“You did make sure the ship was looked over before we took it?”

“Yes of course. What sort of a fool do you take me for?” Their plan to escape had been one implemented over a number of days and until they finally left Hux still had command over his ship. He had used that command in order to ensure their plan would go as smoothly as possible.

“Are you sure?” Ren asks and there is a manicness to his voice that puts Hux on edge. The ship was in working order but it might not be should Kylo take his lightsaber to it.

“Yes. I’m sure.”

Kylo’s fist slams down onto the controls, his back taunt with emotion. Hux waits for the outburst. Waits for Kylo Ren to completely ruin the ship and their plan.

Hux shouldn’t have agreed to this.

No outburst comes. Instead Kylo slumps against the controls.

“What is the problem Ren? Tell me.”

Ren doesn’t tell him. At least not with his own words. Instead he moves aside so Hux can see the warning the ship is giving them: mechanical failure.

“That’s impossible.” Hux had gotten the First Order’s best mechanics to look over the ship. There was no way for it to be failing.

Unless of course someone else had found out about their plan. Unless the repairs had actually been sabotage. They let them leave because they knew the dead of space could dole out much worse punishments then anything they had. Could cause them more pain than even the Supreme Leader. They let the rats leap from the ship unharmed knowing they would only drown or be eaten.

Hux should never have agreed to this plan and his current position is all Ren’s fault. Ren and the smell of new pregnancy meddling with Hux’s mind. It did not have to be his child for his instincts to want to _help_ and _protect_ when an omega only just with child comes to you in clear distress.

He doesn’t get a chance to yell at Ren for getting him stuck in this position before Ren is turning the ship off autopilot and taking over controls.

“What are you doing?”

“There’s a planet close by. If I get us there before the engine’s fail we will have a slightly better chance of getting this fixed.”

“What if there’s pirates on it? Do we even know if the air is breathable?”

Ren pauses what he is doing and Hux watches as his hands grip tight on the base of the controls. “There’s not pirates on it and the air is breathable. It’s-“ Ren squeezes his eyes shut and takes three steading breathes. “There isn’t pirates on it and the air is breathable. It’s safe.”

“How do you know?” There is something about Ren that makes Hux feel like the question is one that has a painful answer. He reminds himself that caring about Kylo’s comfort should be the least of his worries after what he has done for the man.

“I just do,” Kylo replies before returning to the controls of the ship.

Kylo more aims it at the planet then lands it and Hux finds himself bracing between the side of the ship and armrest of one of the chairs to prevent himself from losing balance as it cuts and falls through the over-brush.

They make it through. A little bruised but alive.

Hux stares out the window and already knows he is going to hate the planet. Everything his eyes can see is a dark green and he swears he can already taste the stench of the swamp-water that will sink into every crevice of the ship.

Ren collapse into one of the seats and stares as if horrified at the landscape. Hux wonders what causes the reaction. Wonders what memories a place like this dredges up for Kylo Ren to put him in such a state.

“Ren,” He calls his name more to distract him then actually gain his attention. He does not know what it is about the place that shakes Ren so much. He wants to brush it of as Ren being an oversensitive omega. That the baby has already gotten to his brain and deprived him of all logical faculties giving him fears where there is no reason for them to be. Hux knows better than to actually believe that. Kylo Ren may show all the inclinations inherent to his designation but he never possessed their fears. He tantrumed like the omega he actually was but he feared like an alpha.

Ren startles and turns in the seat to face him and Hux can see that his eyes are still unfocused. “What is it?”

“What do we do now?”

“Now?” Ren turns back to the view of the trees as if waiting for someone to step out of them. Hux watches as his glazed over expression regains its focus and Kylo Ren looks a bit more like Kylo Ren and not some fragile omega. “Now we see exactly what is wrong with this ship that your mechanics missed.”

Hux doesn’t tell Ren about his suspicions of what the mechanics actually did. He is sure the thought must have crossed Kylo’s mind as well. He is sure they are both happier without it being voiced.

The ramp of the ship lowers and Hux finds himself right about the stench of the swamp. It quickly moves into the ship, filling it with the stench of damp decay.

Millicent comes out of wherever she hid during the crash and is the first off the ramp and into the damp earth of the planet. Hux goes to call her back but Kylo stops him.

“She will return on her own. This planet does not bare her ill will.”

Hux wants to point out that it isn’t the planet itself he is worried about so much as the creatures on it but Kylo has already moved his attention onto the underbelly of the ship, removing the plate to have a look at its innards.

Hux figures it is best to leave him to his task without disturbances. He doesn’t know why but Ren seems to have a talent for ships. Seems to intuitively know how to fly and repair them. Hux can do both at a basic level. He figures he should leave the task to the more competent hands.

He walks back onto the ship if only to try and escape the dankness of the planet’s environment to something more familiar. He had spent many hours on First Order vessels, especially those designed for officers. He might not know their mechanics as well as Ren but he knows their interior. Knows that they always have a stockpile of liquor and knows where it is.

The glasses are shattered, shards of glass spilling out from the shelves as he opens the door but the bottles themselves are still solid.

Hux reaches for the unopened bottle of Whiskey and pulls it out causing more shards to rain to the ground.

They should probably save it and sell it. Bottles like it can fetch a high price no matter the market they are at. Hux thinks about the sort of person they would find as a buyer and cracks open the bottle. They wouldn’t savour it as it should be.

He instinctively reaches for a glass to pour it into only for his hands to find shattered glass. A part of him recoils at the idea of drinking straight from the bottle but he gives it little thought. He needs the alcohol more then he needs to stick to his upbringing. Anyway, nobody else will be drinking from it. Hux doubts it will last long enough for Ren to birth the child within him. There is little reason to worry about contaminating it for another.

It isn’t his preferred brand but the alcohol goes down easily enough. After two mouthfuls Hux finds his nerves at least slightly calmed. He cleans the glass from his hand and pours some of the alcohol over it despite the fact the cuts are all only shallow. He cannot leave any risk of infection when they are unlikely to end up somewhere with a decent medical system.

He returns the bottle to its home. If they are forced to sell the others, he wants it to last as long as possible before he has to accept dependency on the vile alcohol those on the fringes of society survive off.

He sits on one of the chairs but finds himself up on his feet mere moments later. He feels restless and nervous. Feels like he is waiting for Kylo to confirm his suspicions about sabotage. He finds himself walking down onto the landing ramp. Sitting and taking in the horrible swamp that they might be stuck with until someone else stumbles upon the planet and finds them.

He reaches for his breast pocket and the pack of cigarettes within. Anything to distract him from the horrid stench of the marshlands.

“You shouldn’t smoke around someone who is pregnant.”

Kylo stands at the foot of the ramp with grease stains on his face. The stench of the oil and _baby_ only making Hux take another drag to clear his lungs. “You are free to leave if you want.”

Ren looks out towards the tree line as if he is honestly considering it and Hux is surprised he cares enough about the unborn child to be willing to walk into the wilderness to protect it from cigarette smoke. After a second Ren scowls and then sits next to Hux on the landing ramp bringing the stench of the grease and oil, as well as the underlying scent of pregnancy, only closer.

Hux takes another drag. Ren’s scowl deepens.

“You should ration them. I don’t know how much they cost but I doubt you will be in the position to gain more for a long while.”

And whose fault is that? Hux doesn’t voice the question, instead he takes another drag. He makes sure to breathe the smoke out in the opposite direction to Ren as if it will make some difference. They can’t actually afford any complications to the pregnancy, nor the child.

Ren scowls at him but doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t say anything until Hux has nearly smoked the cigarette to the end.

“I don’t know what they did exactly but I might be able to get it working again.”

“How long?” Hux asks trying not to sound desperate. He has hardly been on the planet for half a day - he cannot already be so pathetic as to be reduced to grovelling in that time. He may be a coward who jumps ship but he isn't completely without a spine.

“I don’t know,” Ren says and frowns. “Probably a while though.”

Hux doesn’t get a chance to reply before Ren abruptly stands. He watches him stare off into the forests that surround the swamp and wonders just how safe the planet is. It certainly seems to have Ren spooked.

He stares out towards where Ren’s gaze is focused but sees nothing but tree and marsh and fog. Unsettling in how horrid it is but not something worthy of the terror it seems to have sent sinking into Ren’s bones. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Ren says and his gaze has turned from the trees to Hux. He still seems unnerved but part of it seems to be aimed at Hux. As if there is something about Hux that he can’t figure out.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Ren says again but he still looks like he is trying to work out a puzzle on Hux’s face. “I can’t do anything more until the ship cools down. If you want me I’ll be inside.”

He storms into the ship and Hux figures he has gone to ‘meditate’ on whatever it is that has put him on edge. Or at least that is what Hux hopes he has done and he hopes it calms it down. This planet is horrible enough without a jittery omega as his only company.

Hux stays on the landing ramp until Millicent shows up again, walking back into the ship as if she had just gone on a casual stroll through the base. He envies her for that. Envies the ease in which she has already adapted to the new planet. He cannot stand the sight nor smell of it any longer. He gave Ren as much time to ‘mediate’ as possible. The omega will just have to deal with his presence ‘distracting’ his ‘important communication with the Force’.

He walks into the ship with the plan of bypassing wherever Ren has inevitable settled himself down to ‘meditate’ to take a shower before getting some sleep. Maybe this is all a horrible nightmare and he will wake up as the ship lands on some smuggler-haven of a planet. Maybe he will wake up to find that Kylo never came to him for help and all of this was just a terror cooked up by his mind as punishment for ever even contemplating leaving the First Order. A terror to teach him that he must either pull the First Order back to its deserved glory or go down with it.

He walks into the ship only to find Ren hadn’t been meditating at all.

“If I had of realised pregnancy would make a housewife out of you I would have ordered you mated back when I first met you.” It’s cruel, Hux knows, especially considering how Ren did actually end up with the child within him but Hux has little other way to express his surprise at the fact Kylo had apparently been spending the whole time organising the inside of the ship. Had been sorting through everything to find what had and had not survived the landing. “I thought you would be meditating,” he adds as if it’s an apology.

“I have nothing to meditate on,” Ren says with a glare and Hux is sure even he could build a list of things for Ren to meditate on, starting with whatever it is about this planet that has him on edge. “Sorting through this a better use of the time. We can leave whatever won’t be sellable here. It’ll save us having to carry it around with us.”

It is a valid point, but as the internal lights of the ship turn on automatically from the sun of the planet going too low on the horizon, Hux remembers just how long the day already has been for them. It wasn’t like it was going anywhere.

“We can deal with that tomorrow Ren,” he says despite the fact he shouldn’t care if Kylo spends the whole night organising it. It would mean one less task for Hux. He feels like he has to ensure Ren actually sleeps though. He justifies it as the fact he needs Ren’s mind sharp to fix whatever damage has been caused to the ship. It certainly isn’t because he feels protective of the omega or the child within him.

“Then what do you suggest we do instead? I warn you I am not pleasant bed company.”

Hux scowls at the implication. He had known of officers that keep omegas for the sole purpose of keeping their beds warm. He had never been one to indulge in it. He had found over the years that those who did tended to end up wrapped in thoughts of their omegas rather than their jobs. They rarely climbed higher and Hux had wanted the position at the top.

Still, there isn’t any top for him to climb to anymore and he finds himself wondering what Kylo would be like when he gives in to the behaviour of his designation at the suggestion. It is not something to dwell on now. Maybe later, once they have a clean ship and a new life, they will find if they fall into the relationship their designations will imply to everyone who they meet. For now surviving is much more important than dealing with that.

“Sleep Ren. I propose we get some rest and deal with this all after.”

The ship needs time to cool before they have any chance to fix what is wrong with it and get off the planet. There is nothing pressing for them to do until that has happened so they should take the chance of sleep offered.

Ren nods but he doesn’t move and Hux decides to just leave him there and get some rest himself. “I’m going to take a shower, if you have any preference of bed I suggest you take it now.”

The ship has two main beds on it in separate, private, rooms. The rooms are small and the beds not as comfortable as the one Hux had back on base but they were as comfortable as one could expect on a ship this size. Temporary sleeping arrangements for the First Order’s officers. Hux doesn’t particularly care which of the two beds he ends up in, there isn’t actually a difference. If anyone were to find a difference and have a preference it would be Ren. Hux will give him what he wants if only to avoid having to deal with a sulking omega.

Even before he gets into the shower Hux knows he should feel guilty about the wasted water. The ship is designed for temporary comfort so the shower drains from the drinking-water reserves. Normally it would be easy to refill them once the destination had been reached. Hux knows it might not be so simple for them.

He doesn’t care though. He needs to wash off the horrible day and he isn’t about to go bathing in the swamp surrounding them.

Once he has finished showering he changes into his sleep clothes and goes back to the main part of the ship to see if Kylo is still going through the wreckage. He isn’t and the door to one of the main quarters is shut. He’s apparently made his decision so Hux retires into the other after ensuring the landing ramp raised and the ship secure. Even if Ren says the planet holds no pirates or danger to them Hux would not be able to sleep unless he knew the ship was locked. Even if he knows the only people potentially looking for them are the First Order and that they would undoubtable have the key to the vessel.

He finds himself collapsing into the bed as soon as he reaches it.

It isn’t the same as the one he left back on his ship when he fled but it is still familiar. Familiar enough that he can pretend he hasn’t left for good and is instead merely completing a task for the Supreme Leader and that this all is a mere mild hiccup that will be soon rectified before they can move on.

Hux isn’t a man of delusions but he falls asleep before he corrects himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After hanging with a friend before writing this chapter and having to listen to her complain about how her cigarettes always go stale before she finishes a pack (and thus reminding me that cigarettes do go stale) a minor part of the fic had to get changed – nothing actually major, it’s really just superficial but still, a change. 
> 
> The next chapters will be less ‘one day’ filled. Just needed to set some things up and that required closer focus on the timeline.

Hux wakes and even before he opens his eyes he knows it is not morning yet, he doesn’t feel fully rested but at the same time knows he will not fall back asleep.

Opening his eyes his assessment is confirmed. The light from the artificial nocturnal lighting of the ship creeps through the crack of the door to his room, only noticeable to somebody really looking for it like he is. While the planet might merely have long nights Hux knows that in reality only a handful of hours have passed.

He also realises it wasn’t all just some horrible dream. He can still smell the swamp, the scent having started its creep into every part of the ship. It is only faint in the room he is in but soon it will be overwhelming no matter where he tries to escape it. Even if they do leave the planet soon the ship will carry the scent forever, a permanent reminder of the horrible stop on their foolish plan. At least they will be eventually selling it off. They will probably have to take somewhat of a price cut because of the stench though.

He knows trying to go back to sleep is fruitless so after staring at the ceiling for a few minutes he gets out of the bed and decides to check the ship in case anyone had discovered them during his rest. He knows he will likely find nothing. The First Order may be aware that they have left but he doubts they would have managed to track them down in such limited hours, and nobody else in the galaxy knows to even be looking for them. So long as the planet is an inhabited as Kylo says it is then nobody should be on the ship, except for Kylo and him of course.

He still grabs the blaster hidden in the draws of the bedside table before leaving the room. He won’t be taken by anymore surprises or betrayals.

The door to the room Kylo has claimed is open and when Hux goes inside to see the reason why he finds that there is no Kylo within it.

He isn’t in the body of the ship either, and a check in the cockpit finds only Millicent cuddled up in the pilots chair asleep. Hux figures it only leaves the option of Kylo having started on the repairs of the ship.

Walking out into the darkness of the swamp that surrounds them Hux does not find Kylo anywhere near or around the ship as he expected. All he catches is the faint scent of pregnant omega in the air telling him that Ren went into the forest that surrounds them.

Hux has little want to follow him.

He has no choice though. Kylo’s beliefs about the planet may have been wrong. He might have been captured by pirates or crime lords who found the ship while they slept. He might have gone for a walk only to find some predatory animal that considered him as a feast. If Ren was injured or killed Hux knew his chances of getting off the planet would diminish. Kylo was the better mechanic of the two of them.

Still, the thought of going out into a swamped forest during the middle of the night is far from what Hux wanted to be doing. Even when considering the fact he had fled from the First Order.

He steels himself for a moment before stepping off the ramp of the ship and into the marshland under it.

He hears the earth under his feet squish with each step. He tries to ignore it and the scent of swamp that only seems to get stronger the further he walks from the ship somehow. He instead focuses in on the scent that he knows to be Kylo, the sweetness of pregnancy and omega that now surround him.

Despite the fact the walk is much too long for Hux’s want to be out in the damp air and earth Kylo hadn’t actually walked all that far from the ship and Hux finds him easily and quickly.

He still nearly shoots him out of surprise.

Ren seems even more unfocused then he had been earlier in the night. Something Hux would have thought impossible. He stares out, deeper into the forest, as if searching for something there. Hux hopes it is merely sleep deprivation that is causing his enhanced weirdness and not something more threatening to them.

“Ren.”

Kylo starts at his name and turns around to face Hux.

There is an expression of fear on his face, and Hux swears he hears him whisper, “oh, it’s just you.” However it all gives way to his usual displeased expression in a matter of moments.

“What do you want Hux?”

“For you to explain what is going on.” He has had enough of merely watching Kylo stare fearfully into the swamp with also saying that the planet contains no danger to them.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“There is something about this planet that puts you on edge – you are going to explain it to me right now.”

Kylo gives him a wilting look. “This has nothing to do with you Hux, do not presume you have a right to know.”

In the middle of a horrible swamp, and after the disturbed sleep he had just woken from, Hux had no patience for Kylo’s usual abrasive communication.

“Do not presume I have a right? Need I remind you Ren that we are stuck together now and more specifically stuck on this miserable planet until and unless you can repair the ship. I have every right to know if the planet we are on holds any danger to us and do not say it doesn’t because you have done nothing but looked spooked since you decided to bring us here.”

“There is no danger to you on this planet. It cares little about you,” Ren replies in dismissal.

“And yet it cares about you?”

“Yes,” Kylo’s voice does seem to falter at the words but Hux pays it little mind still caught up in his anger at being considered unimportant to the great Kylo Ren yet again. Unimportant despite the fact he was the only one willing to help him after what happened.

“And tell me Ren, why would it care about you but not me?”

“Because you have no connection to the Force.”

“What?” Hux sneers because Kylo cannot be serious?

“The planet is strong with the Force. It is the reason why we are here.”

“The reason we are here is because sabotaged our ship and we crash landed on the nearest planet.” He was too tired to continue with pretending it wasn’t sabotage that landed them in the position they were in. Too exhausted to even take Ren’s emotions into account, not that he had ever been in the habit of doing that.

“The ship could have failed close to so many planets. The fact it was this one we were nearest to is the will of the Force.”

As much as Hux agreed with the sentiment that the universe hated him currently, he never liked the idea of an all-powerful ‘Force’ guiding his actions. “No we were nearest to here because that was the point where whatever they did to the ship finally failed. If we had taken another path we would have failed at the same time.”

“So what do you suggest it is then Hux? Why did we end up on this planet instead of any other?”

“A coincidence. Those do happen Ren.”

“Not with a place like this,” Kylo replies, and Hux watches him scan the horizon, as if the answers to their problems will be found out there.

Hux finds his already thin patience waning more. “What possible goal could it have for dumping us on this planet? Tell me Ren – why it would want you here?”  

“I don’t know.” The anger that Kylo had managed to build deflates with the words, and for a moment he seems even more lost then he did even on the planet. Looked more scared then Hux had ever seen in his life. Hux almost feels a pang of sympathy for him, but that is clearly more to do with his exhaustion then any weak emotions. The pheromones of pregnancy taking the weakness of his sleep-deprived mind to try and make him want to comfort the omega.  

“Well, if you figure it out I’m going to be back at the ship and sleeping. Hopefully I’ll wake up and discover this is all just a horrible dream.”

“It’s not a dream,” Kylo says and Hux has no response to but scowl. He knows it isn’t a dream but he can still hope.

“I suggest you get some sleep as well. We do need to get the ship repaired so we can leave this place.” And return to their destination of some outer-rim smuggler hovel to obtain a new ship and then continue running from everyone who would want them. Really if the planet wasn’t so horrible Hux would almost be tempted to suggest they just stay there. It was unbearable however and he is sure even the worst of the smuggler outposts cannot be worse.

Ren doesn’t seem to be paying attention to Hux anymore, just staring off into the distance of the forest again with the same glazed-over expression that seems to be his constant since aiming them at the planet. Hux wonders if he has gotten any sleep. It isn’t his job to worry about that. Kylo can look after himself, even if he is pregnant and an omega. Hux doesn’t actually need to take care of him and ensure he looks after himself. If Ren wants to stay out in the forest all night Hux will not bother trying to convince him otherwise.

The trip back to the ship takes longer than the one to find Ren did. There is no scent in the air for Hux to follow, and instead he must rely on his memories of the trip out to get him back without getting lost. There are a few moments where he stops and believes he has turned himself around in the dark, unchanging forest.

He wonders if Kylo would go looking for him should he fail to find his way back to the ship.

He knows he would.

As much as it pains them both to admit it they need each other.

There is no way either of them could survive without the other’s help. They both carry half the skill set needed to survive. Although Hux can at least admit that if Kylo wasn’t pregnant his use would be much lesser. Kylo is pregnant though so he needs Hux as much as Hux needs Kylo’s knowledge about ships and black-markets.

When he reaches the ship he is grateful to get some reprieve from the swamp air, despite the fact he knows the scent will have only sunk further into the ship during the time he was gone.

He doesn’t even both washing the swamp off him before returning to his bed. There is no point, and he probably should think about conserving water.

He doesn’t find sleep as easy for the rest of the night.

He watches as the glow from the internal lights dims from the crack in the doorway, indicating that the sun of the planet has risen once more.

There are blinds in the room that remain closed, allowing him to keep sleeping should he want to. He knows he hasn’t gotten as much sleep as he probably needs, but he knows he will only struggle more trying to get any more.

He might as well see if Kylo returned to the ship yet or if he was still out in the forest waiting for some sign from the _Force_.

He finds, upon exiting the ship, that Kylo had returned from the forest and is elbow deep into the gut of the ship.

Hux wonders if he slept at all during the night.

Hux reminds himself he does  not care.

He wants to ask if Ren has found the flaw that made them crash. He wants to ask if Ren has any idea as to how to fix it. He knows better than to try and talk to Ren as he works. Knows that Ren won’t like it and it will distract him from whatever he is doing.

Instead he just stands and watches as Kylo continues with whatever he is doing to the ship until the feeling of uselessness becomes too much to bare.

He sits once again on the ramp of the ship, feeling the need to smoke rising in him. As much as Kylo is right in the fact it is doubtful he will be able to once again obtain them, Hux knows if the cigarettes are not smoked they will merely go stale. A waste he will not allow.

He only smokes one. He was never one for chain smoking, thought it a waste of time. Never liked the offices that seemed to be perpetually filled with smoke. He had never had the time to spend hours smoking. It was a luxury he allowed himself in moderation. He is yet to see reason to change the habit.

The cigarette burns much too fast for his liking, but the idea of starting a new one seems to only be an indication of laziness to him. Sitting there without doing anything is just as bad.

Ren still seems busy with the ship so Hux decides to continue trying to organise the inside of it.

Millicent idly wakes from where she has cuddled down on the couches in the communal area and watches Hux as he re-enters the ship. He gives her a light scratch as he examines the state area. He doesn’t know how long Kylo had spent organising it during the night, but there was still much to do.

When he starts working his way through the piles of items that litter the floor Millicent watches from her perch before apparently getting bored and, after some stretches, leaves the ship.

He idly wonders what she does while out in the swamp that surrounds him. Maybe she has found a task to complete or maybe she is suffering from the same bored idleness he is, and is merely trying to waste her time in a new environment.

He supposes it doesn’t really matter. They will hopefully be leaving the planet soon. If Millicent is exploring out of boredom then she will have many new places to stave it in. If she has a goal then he hopes she completes it before they leave.

He might as well get as much of the ship organised as he can before they do manage to leave.

It is boring but easy to spend the rest of the day organising through everything. A task that Hux would normally consider below him but now grateful for something to stop any idleness. That is not to say he enjoys it, just, it is better to focus on the value of the item in front of him instead of the worry that the ship will be irreparable and they will be stuck on the planet for an untold time until someone else finds them.

He works on sorting through the stuff into whether it can be kept, sold, or tossed until the artificial lights of the ship turn on and Kylo returns from fixing the ship, bringing the sweet scene of pregnancy with him. Hux has to admit it is at least more pleasant than the scent of swamp that has completed its task of taking over the ship.  

There is a part of Hux that wants to demand an answer to the question of if Ren has fixed the ship yet. He won’t let himself sound desperate though so he waits a few minutes before breaching the topic.

The answer he gets is neither confirms nor defeats his hopes.

“What do you mean you don’t know if it can be fixed yet?”

Kylo pulls a small piece of mechanics out of his robes, allowing the artificial lights to glisten off its oil-coated surface. “This is the piece that broke and stopped us from continuing. The ship won’t fly without it. I might be able to fix it but I won’t know until I try.”

“And how long will that take?” Hux wants off the planet as soon as possible. Already they had spent much too much time on it for his liking.

“That’s what I don’t know,” Kylo replies, and the device goes back into his robes.

“What am I supposed to do until then?”

Kylo looks around the chaos that is still the floor of the ship. “I’m sure there is plenty for you to fill your time with.”

Hux wants to argue against the dismissal. Wants to remind Kylo that in a few months _he_ will be the one dependent on Hux instead of how it currently is turning out.

“I’m going to bed,” Kylo says before Hux has a chance to form a rebuttal. “I’ll start working on it in the morning.”

It is only then that Hux notices how tired Ren looks. He was probably right in his assumption that the omega hadn’t slept all night and as much as it isn’t his job to care he knows that sleep deprivation is something that will only make Kylo more useless. Maybe after some rest he will find that the piece of broken machinery is simply fixed. A false delusion maybe, but Hux allows it all the same. He will find out just how false it is in the morning.

He waits on the ramp for Millicent to return from her journeys, smoking another of the cigarettes from the pack. She arrives just as he reaches the filter, disappearing onto the ship somewhere to find her resting place for the night.

Hux locks the ship up for the night and returns to the room and bed that has been designated his. Sleep does not come easily, but it isn’t impossible to obtain.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter needs a friendly reminder that Hux is not the nicest nor best person in the galaxy. 
> 
> Also I think I’ve officially given up on my plan for each chapter – I’m going to stick with it for overall order of things but yeah… this was supposed to encompasses like 6 months… instead it’s like… 1 month? Two weeks? I’m sure I’ll scribble down a timeline soonish.

It isn’t an easy fix.

A week passes of Kylo all but locking himself into his room and working on the piece of machinery that is their key to freedom. At least that is what Hux assumes he is doing. He doesn’t actually know. Kylo refuses to let him into the room and stays stubbornly quiet on the topic when he joins Hux for their meals.

At the start of the week those meals are made up of the food packed for the officers of the vessel. Things that Hux considers actual food that comes with the unfortunate side-effect of perishability. At the end of the week they had consumed most of it and start on the rations.

That, combined with the floor of the ship slowly regaining its organisation are the only two signs of the time passing. Other than that the days remain the same – Hux wakes, spends the day figuring out what on the ship is salvageable and what can just be dumped; Kylo, locked in his room hopefully repairing the item necessary for their freedom; and Millicent, coming and going from the ship every time Hux lowers the ramp to either dump things or smoke.

It takes two days of a ration diet for Kylo to break the boring normality that seems to be their current lives.

Hux is lowering the ramp to dump another collection of items destroyed in the crash only for Kylo to turn up wearing his full armour apart from his helmet. A week of seeing him in light pants and a singlet makes his old clothing strange to Hux. So does the ability of the clothes to dampen Ren’s scent. It cannot completely mask pregnancy but it certainly stops it from circling around him as much as it does when he is wearing lighter clothing. The scent not announcing him before Hux even has a chance to see him like it had for the week.

“What are you doing?”

“Going for a walk,” Kylo says as if it is a normal occurrence for him. As if he hadn’t spent the previous week avoiding the outside of the ship.

“Why?”

“I don’t have to tell you the reason behind all my activities.”

Hux stops himself before any automatic reply can come out. Stops and reminds himself that he needs Kylo if he ever wants to get off the planet. That he doesn’t want Ren to do anything stupid and suicidal merely to spite him.

He chooses to not say anything and, after lowering the ramp, steps to the side to allow Kylo to exit first.

Kylo raises his eyebrow at the behaviour but doesn’t say anything before walking down the ramp and disappearing into the forest surrounding them.

As Hux works on getting the rubbish out of the ship and onto the pile he built Millicent decides that she too would rather be in the woods than on the ship. Hux wonders if there is some danger he does not know about – something Millicent and Kylo can sense that he cannot. The Force and animal instincts giving them forewarning of poisonous gas or an impending explosion. The two of them fleeing and leaving him to die.

Kylo wouldn’t be so stupid as to allow Hux to die a death that would cost him nothing to prevent. Sure, if preventing Hux’s demise might cost his own life or comfort he might choose ensuring his own safety, but warning Hux that the ship will blow up or poison him would not mean any risk for him. He would be a fool to allow Hux to die like that. Especially when he knows he is pregnant. Kylo might not be the best at thinking things through but he is not so stupid to do something like that.

There is likely no danger in the ship yet Hux finds himself unwilling to return into it with neither Kylo nor Millicent around.

He finds himself once again sitting on the ramp of it reaching for the pack of cigarettes in his breast pocket. Opening the packet he finds that only three remain. He knows that it is probably for the best. They were starting to get stale anyway. Still, there is disappointment that rises in him at the sight. He doesn’t know when he will next get his hands on them, if ever.

He smokes his way through one yet neither Millicent nor Kylo returns.

He knows he should go back into the ship. Knows he should keep working on organising its contents. That he should make use of the time.

He pulls the second last cigarette from the packet and lights it.

The final one follows soon after that.

It is half-way through smoking it that Hux realises what he is doing. He couldn’t remember the last time he smoked more than two cigarettes in a row. Couldn’t remember if he ever had. Holding the slowly burning cigarette out in front of him he realises he might be slipping into the habits of the low class scum of the galaxy quicker than he intended. That he might be finding the lazy habit of spending hours doing nothing but smoking and drinking something that will become a part of his life almost too natural. It is fitting in a way – that the last of his preferred, high end, brand of cigarettes is the beginning of the slip in his morals. He contemplates getting the bottle of whiskey he had opened a week prior and starting on that once the cigarette burned down. No. He will try to keep some class about him. Scowling, he quickly returns the cigarette to his lips. Better to at least enjoy it before it burns down leaving him with nothing.

As he smokes he watches Millicent return to the ship, some animal caught in her mouth. He scowls at her as she starts making her way up the ramp, not wanting to have to deal with the carcass later. On the other hand he supposes this means they don’t have to worry about feeding her and he hardly wants to scare her off the ship lest he has to go into the swamp looking for her when they leave.

After the third and final cigarette finally burns down to uselessness Hux sits watching the forest. He knows he should go back inside and continue organising, however after a week of doing nothing but going through each individual item on the ship, trying to ascertain its usefulness he has little want to do it anymore. He doesn’t find the idleness any more pleasant but at least it is a displeasure of a different kind.

He finds his displeasure growing when Kylo returns. The scent of Ren’s pregnancy covered even more by the stench of swamp coming off him and it takes Hux a moment to realise that Kylo’s thick robes are soaked through with water. The omega had apparently decided to go swimming.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hux asks as Kylo walks past him and onto the ramp of the ship.

“To my room. Do you have a problem with that?” Kylo doesn’t stop in his pace.

Hux finds himself getting up and moving over to block Ren’s path into the ship, earning him a raised eyebrow. Kylo does stop moving though and Hux can see the pool of water gathering at his feet. Kylo is drenched through with the swamp water and Hux can only imagine how much of it would end up on the floor of the ship before Ren made it to his room. “And what – drag the swamp through the ship while you do?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, the ship already smells of the swamp.”

“Not the water of it yet.” There is something about the water that smells even more putrid than the rest of the place. Drenched in it the stench completely masks the scent of pregnancy on Ren. Something the forest and marshlands by themselves were never able to do.

“What would you have me do then? I can’t merely stay out here forever. I need to get back to my room to work on fixing the ship unless you want to stay stuck on this planet indefinitely.”

Kylo is right in the fact he cannot stay where he is. Although not just because he has decided to work on the piece of machinery in his room. There is little cover outside the ship and Hux still does not entirely trust the planet to be devoid of creatures that wish them harm. No matter how much he wants Ren to not trace the swamp water though the ship he cannot deny him access. There is however another solution.

“Take your robes off.”

“What?” The word is said with a snarl and Kylo drawing himself to his full height in an attempt to stand over Hux despite the fact Hux is higher on the ramp.

“I said take off your robes off. You can go into the ship but the clothing stays out here until it’s dry.” It is a fair enough resolution. One that balances out the fact Hux cannot actually bar Kylo from the ship with the fact that he does not want the water that is soaked into the clothing anywhere near it.

“Are you ordering me to strip?” Kylo asks and Hux watches his muscles go tight as if he is preparing to simply overpower Hux and walk into the ship.

“Yes. I will get you your other clothes and a towel to dry off but I am not allowing you onto the ship while still wearing that.” He will allow some concessions seeing he knows how the child Ren is carrying was conceived. He won’t make Kylo walk the whole way to his bedroom naked.

Kylo glares at him but doesn’t make any move further into the ship, instead crossing his arms as if impatient for Hux to hurry up. Hux takes it as a victory and goes into the ship to obtain the clothing and towel.

He decides to get the clothing first but finds himself pausing at the door to Ren’s room. There is a part of him that feels he shouldn’t be going in there – that it is Kylo’s space, and something he has shown little inclination of wanting Hux in. Hux brushes it off as long ago instilled lessons from his father. An avoidance of spaces marked omega because of their little importance to alphas’ lives. Something that has no value in their current situation, nor really a rule that should be applied to Kylo Ren.

The door opens and for some reason Hux is surprised to find the room so similar to his. A week ago he was more than aware that he two rooms were all but identical. Now though, after a week of Ren living in it, Hux finds himself having expected grand changes. Perhaps he had expected Kylo to have built an alter to Darth Vader despite the limited to supplies to build such a thing on the planet they are currently on. Perhaps he expected the plain white walls to have been turned black and incense lit to create the mystic-vibe Kylo had seemed to crave back when they were still a part of the First Order. Hux doesn’t know what he expected but it wasn’t this – a room identical to his in all but the clothing strewn on the floor and bed, and mechanics covering the desk.

He finds himself walking over to the desk despite his actual reason for being in the room. He understands a fair bit about mechanics – he can name all the small pieces on the desk as well as what they do. How they all fit together for this particular piece is above him and even staring at it dismantled he can’t identify the flaw that sent them crashing into the planet in the first place. He hopes Kylo can find it and find a way to fix or replace it so they can leave the horrible place soon.

There is nothing else in the room that holds much interest to him so Hux gathers a shirt and pair of pants for Kylo, similar to what he had been waring for the week prior. He takes a towel from the bathroom and returns to the ramp of the ship.

Kylo is staring out into the forest but there is no longer terror in his eyes. There is still an uneasiness about him though and Hux wonders why he had willingly spent what had to have been an hour out in it when he clearly disliked the place so much. Wonders why he would have entered the swamp waters themselves.

“Ren,” Hux says, used to having to pull Kylo from his thoughts after a week of it. He places the clothing and towel on the landing ramp before going to return to the ship in order to give Kylo the privacy to change.

“You’re not going to stay and watch?” Kylo asks and Hux knows it is bait attempting to get a rise out of him. Or perhaps to trap him into saying something that will allow Kylo to smugly be _right_ about his intentions.

“I am sure you don’t need my help to dress yourself yet Ren.” It works as both a dismissal as well as a reminder that soon Kylo will need Hux’s help with things and that while he may have the power in the relationship currently it will not remain that way.

Kylo shoots him a glare before turning around and tugging the shirt of his robes off. Hux takes the cue and returns to the inside of the ship.

Two days later a blunt razor makes Hux finally give up on trying to prevent a beard from growing. He supposes he should have packed more but hadn’t much thought about it when he had been packing to leave. He guesses he assumed by now they would be somewhere where he could obtain more. Maybe it is for the best. Most people who had known him had only ever seen him clean shaven. Kylo’s mask kept his identity secret but Hux supposes he should do something to prevent himself from being recognised.

He tosses the razor to the side to be dumped off the ship later before hearing the sounds of the ramp being lowered echo through the ship.

It’s Kylo, dressed once more in his thick robes that Hux only just allowed back on the ship after they had the stench of swamp water washed out of them and dried again.

“Where are you going?”

“Out,” Kylo replies as if to only antagonise Hux.

“Where to?” He doesn’t understand what it is about the swamp that seems to call both Kylo and Millicent into it. Although a part of him doesn’t care – anything that involves the swamp is something he wants to avoid.

“It doesn’t involve you yet.”

“What do you mean yet?” Hux knows it was a slip of the tongue but he isn’t going to ignore it if it will allow him to get more information about something that will involve him at some point.

“As you said – soon enough I will need your help with some tasks,” Kylo replies, his hand lightly resting on his stomach. They hadn’t actually really talked about it in the past few days, both so caught up in their own jobs and the want to get off the planet. Sure, it was something that Hux thought about every time he saw Kylo. Thought about both what would happen when his body started to adjust in order to give the child room as well as what they were going to do once the child was actually born. He supposes this is just another moment of them speaking around it rather than of it.

“I’ll be back before nightfall,” Kylo says and then descends the ramp and disappears into the forest.

Hux finds ways to spend the time. The main living area of the ship is mostly organised now, the items that are worthless tossed outside and those of value kept. Hux supposes he should probably start going through the storage compartments of the ship to see what other items are on board that might be of value. He knows what the officer supplies are but not as much the stock aimed for lower parts of the hierarchy. It wasn’t his job to oversee what was packed for Stormtroopers for their journeys.

He decides that is a task for the next day, and finds himself gravitating towards the open bottle of Whiskey. He is packing it away again when Kylo returns.

Ren once more is drenched in the waters of the swamp but this time he is carrying things with him: two woven bags made from vines. One carrying fish, the other some kind of tuber. Food. Kylo has brought home food.

“Where did you get that?” Hux asks, walking down the ramp to meet Ren half-way. He wonders if he can actually bring himself to stop Kylo from walking into the ship, swamp-soaked and all, seeing as he has brought with him an offer of food that isn’t rations.

“I set up nets a couple of days ago and started trying to find where the tubers grew. Found them today between checking what was caught in the nets.”

“Where did you get the nets from?” Hux didn’t remember Kylo taking anything with him when the left the days prior.

“I found some at...” Ren pauses, glancing back into the forest, and suddenly the terror is back in his eyes. “I found some. They were decayed a bit but I managed to patch them up with some vines. They won’t last for long.”

Hopefully they wouldn’t be on the planet for much longer. Of course, Hux notices that Kylo isn’t making that comment. He wonders if it is something that is meant to be implied or if Ren is keeping something about the damaged ship part from him.

“So are you going to take these and go get me clothes or are we just going to stand here forever?”

Hux stares at the bags hanging from Kylo’s hand, and, more specifically, the water dripping from their contents. There was no way to stop the swamp water from ending up in the ship unless he wants all his meals prepared off it. He’ll just have to deal with it until they can sell the ship.

“Just come in,” he says and Kylo grins like he’s won. Hux supposes in this matter he has.

He still sends Kylo off to get changed once inside while he starts preparing the food. Just because he’s allowed the water onto the ship doesn’t mean he wants to spend a meal seated across from someone still drenched in it. Ren doesn’t even protest the order, nor have any sarcastic comment for him, so Hux supposes he wants out of the clothing as much as Hux wants him out of it.

Hux never considered himself an amazing cook, and, if he was perfectly honest, avoided the task for the most part. He knows how to gut and prepare a fish though, and how to prepare the tubers into something edible. It would certainly taste better than the ration bars no matter how poor his culinary talents.

Kylo soon shows up, changed out of the swamp water soaked clothing and dry. He takes the fish Hux had placed to the side for storing and starts wrapping them up.

“I think I found the aquifer nearby. I’ll connect the ship up to it tomorrow to refill our water supplies.”

They had been saving water but they both know that the ships supply will soon run out. It wasn’t designed to be solely relied on for so long.

“How much longer do you think before you can fix the ship?”

They’ve both been avoiding the question but Hux knows they cannot keep dancing around it forever. Either they will soon be off the planet or have to face the reality that they would not be leaving by their own power.

Kylo, once again, chooses to ignore the question. Hux supposes he will allow him his silence in trade for actual food.

The fish and tubers are far from the tastiest meal in Hux’s life, but it is the best they have eaten in the past few days.

The next day Hux finds Kylo half-buried underneath the controls of the ship. Millicent sitting on the pilot’s chair watching him. It’s probably the most interesting thing that has happened in her life for a while, unless there is something more entertaining in the forest for her that Hux does not know about.

“What are you doing?”

A bang echoes under the console causing Millicent to scramble out of the room, and Kylo crawls out from under it. When he sees Hux the panic in his eyes fades and is replaced with anger. “What do you want?”

“You weren’t in your room.” Hux explains, taking a seat in the co-pilot’s chair. “I wondered where you had ended up.”

“Why because you have to always know where I am?”

A part of Hux feels like pointing out the Supreme leader had ordered a tracking device placed in Kylo’s robes for that very purpose. Then he remembers that it is perhaps one of the reasons Ren wanted to flee in the first place.

“I just thought you might have gone on another of your walks.”

“Hungry already?” Kylo asks smugly, before disappearing back under the console.

“No.” Even if he was, there is still food left over from Kylo’s trip the day before. The sound of electronics sparking drags his focus back on his original question. “What are you doing under there?”

“Looking for this,” Kylo replies after pulling himself out again, a piece of wiring in his hand.

“What do you need that for?”

“To hopefully replace some of the broken parts of the piece.” To hopefully get the ship working again. Hux is glad at least some progress is being made on it.

“I shall leave you to it then.”

Kylo doesn’t give a reply just pushes past before returning to his room, the door shutting behind him.

Hux stares through the view of the ship into the forest and swampland realising he has no task to immediately turn his attention to. Reaching up to his pocket he remembers that he had used up the last of his cigarettes.

He gets up and goes to find the bottle of Whiskey.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was a never ending stream of ‘no that’s past tense – switch it to present’ – any remaining fuck ups I pre-emptively apologise for.
> 
> Also this chapter is slightly shorter than the others (I want most of them to be around 3000-4000 words) but that’s because I can’t do anything else until I do a certain plot point and that plot point works a LOT better at the start of a chapter than it does the end and I’ve done everything I wanted to leading up to it.

The scent of damp decay finally found its way into the shower.

It had been the last place on the planet that Hux could find refuge from the smells of it. He had enjoyed every moment within it because of that fact. It was a chance to wash the planet off his skin despite his knowledge that it would sink back in minutes after he left.

He supposes he should have seen it happening. With Kylo connecting the ship’s water supply up to an aquifer on the planet. Even the cleanest water would no doubt pick up the smell from the rest of the place overpowering as it was. There was no more escaping it.

Getting out of the shower Hux has to admit he can still be adequately cleaned from it. Plus, he no longer has to feel guilty for using up potentially precious water resources to take one. There is no way for their ship to be able to drain any aquifer in their time remaining on the planet. Being unable to fully chase away the scent of the place for the time being was a price he has no choice but to pay.

He scowls at his reflection in the fogged up mirror. Only two days without shaving and he could see his beard growing in. With his hair no longer gelled he is starting to resemble the rabble he and Kylo will soon be hiding amongst. As much as he knows it is probably for the best he still feels distaste for the idea of sinking to their level.

By the time he gets dressed Kylo has apparently decided that food is something he wants and Hux follows the sounds of movement to the kitchenette of the ship.

There is still left over fish and tubers for them to eat but soon enough they will need to obtain more if not to be forced back on the rations. Hux wonders how long it will take for Kylo to be unable to obtain them for them. Hux wonders how much longer Kylo will be able to keep the secrets of the planet to himself.

“You’re growing a beard,” Kylo says as they sit down to eat. Hux considers the shared meals an attempt at maintaining their relationship as merely two equals carrying out a mission. He often wonders what motivates Kylo to allow the habit to continue.

“It will help us from being identified.” It’s not the true justification but Hux finds he doesn’t want to explain about the blunt razor and apathetic reaction to it. He then realises that Kylo’s face is as smooth as it had been the first time Hux had seen him unmasked. Maybe Ren had come more prepared for the matter than Hux. “And you’re not?”

“I can’t.”

“Because you are an omega?” Hux had never much cared about omegas’ lives and as such didn’t spend that much time studying the differences between them and other males. He cannot remember having ever met a bearded omega before so he supposes it might be one of the differences.

“No, because I’m pregnant,” Kylo says, now apparently more interesting in playing with what remains of his food than eating it. “It’s the hormones. I won’t be able to grow one again until they’ve been weaned.”

So for a year at least, maybe two. Hux’s mind does the math for him despite the fact he doesn’t entirely care. They are in no real danger of Kylo being recognised – him being bearded or not affects practically nothing.

“Will you grow one afterwards?” Again, he doesn’t care but the alternate is a silent meal as Kylo seems determined to avoid all questions at his progress on fixing the ship and they’ve long ago ran out of other conversation topics.

“I don’t know. I don’t waste my thoughts on things still a year away from happening.”

“If we stay on this planet for much longer I’ll soon have the time to contemplate things that will happen in a decade’s time.” The idleness is starting to get to him. He has already started drinking two glasses worth of the Whiskey a day and he would be drinking more if not for his self-control.

“Getting bored General?” Kylo asks and apparently believing he has gained the upper-hand in conversation brings back his ability to eat.

“Not yet, but soon I will have finished organising the ship and have little to fill my time with.” He needs a new task soon. Needs them to get off the planet so he can start actually implementing their original plan.

“I’m sure I can find something for you to fill your time with,” Kylo says mockingly before getting up to return to his room and Hux hopes the last of the repairs to the ship.

When he finishes his own plate he notices Kylo left his on the table. Scowling he picks it up with his to wash. He knows that if he left it Kylo would not return to clean it, and would likely have some comment about Hux’s lack of other task to complete. He will clean it to keep the peace but refuses to let Kylo make a housewife of him. He knows though, that soon enough the tables will turn, and Kylo will be dependent on him for the important tasks, leaving only the menial within Ren’s level of ability.

It is when he finishes the bottle of Whiskey and opens one of Scotch without even pausing that Hux decides that he must find something else to fill his time apart from the mindless sorting of what areas of the ship remain. The loss of his cigarettes make him decide that he should find the supply on the ship. Stocked on it for any potential guests or officers that might need them.

He hadn’t found them in his cleanings yet, but he hadn’t really been looking for them. There are draws that he hadn’t bothered opening – knowing nothing within them would have been damaged in the crash.

The packs aren’t particularly hard to find. They are where he thought they would be. If he is honest with himself he should have dug them out earlier instead of mourning the one that had been finished. The brand reminded him why he hadn’t – they were high quality but far from his favourites. Still, he supposes he will have to learn to make do with things that were not his preference. It is unlikely he will be able to get his hands on another pack of his preferred brand, and certainly impossible to maintain a constant supply. The 3 packs he has found will likely be the best quality he will have for a long time.

Perhaps he should just quit altogether.

The idea is quickly pushed from his mind. He doesn’t think he can survive his new life without alcohol and nicotine to control his nerves. Something he realises, he probably shares with a lot of others already living it.

Hux is tempted to light the first cigarette there. Maybe sit in one of the lounges of the room and try and pretend he is still an officer of the First Order on down-time during a mission. It was certainly something he had done many times in the past. That is part of the reason of the ship’s design: a reward for those who earned it as well as a show of the First Order’s prestige to those who they were dealing with.

He is sure he will never hear the end of it from Ren if he actually did smoke on the ship. Not that he thinks Kylo has a particularly distaste for cigarettes, but, so long as he was pregnant, he could use it as just another way to get under Hux’s skin. A habit apparently pregnancy and exile had yet to chase from him.

Hux sits on the landing ramp and realises that the view of the forest is almost familiar to him. They need to get off the planet soon or else risk him becoming complacent.

“So you found something else to smoke.” Kylo’s voice is not forewarned by his scent and Hux turns his head to see that he is once again in his robes. “Shouldn’t we have saved them to sell?”

“I need them more. Are you going fishing again?”

“Would you prefer to eat rations?”

Hux scowls at the idea. He wouldn’t and as much as he stubbornly wants to argue with Ren for the sake of it he doesn’t want to ruin the brief peace he has found with the cigarettes. “No.”

“Didn’t think so,” Kylo says, all too smugly before disappearing into the forest.

After three cigarettes Hux decides he has had enough. There are still parts of the ship to organise. Not important, but something to fill his time apart from drinking and smoking. Kylo will return once he has finished his task, there is no need for Hux to sit there waiting for him like some war bride.

When he hears the sounds of wet footprints walking through the ship he decides that food preparation is more important than the remaining ship organisation.

He beats Ren to the kitchen, and so catches him before he disappears into his room to change out of the once again sodden clothes.

“There’s less fish than last time.”

“One of the nets broke. They all need replacing soon.”

“And I suppose you already have a plan for their replacement?” He is getting tired of everything falling more neatly into Kylo’s skill set than his. Then again, he supposes since they left the base they have been reliant on Kylo more than him. It was Ren who would fly the shuttle, because he knew where the right smuggler bases where. It was Ren who find a buyer for the ship, because he knew how to get the best deal out of members of the underground when you didn’t have the force to just threaten their death should they not listen. It was Ren who was going to find a new ship to buy, because he better knew what they needed for the lifestyle they were no-doubt going to be forced to live. Hux wonders what was the purpose of Kylo bringing him along as well. Perhaps he was just to be there to do the tasks Ren would unable to once heavily pregnant. Perhaps Ren feared what would happen should he be travelling alone in the underbelly of space as an omega. Perhaps he just wanted to drag Hux down with him so that there was no way for Hux to gloat about being the superior student of the Supreme Leader should they ever meet again.

“No. All I can do is keep patching them. We may have to return to rations yet.”

“Lucky for you I have a solution then.” He doesn’t know what he enjoys most: the fact that he finally has something to offer that Kylo doesn’t, or the fact that they won’t have to return to rations just yet. “There will be a survival kit in the Troopers area. It will have a net in it.” As well as some snares and other provisions in case of the ship ending up stranded on a non or poorly populated planet. If it wasn’t for the fact that Hux had assumed they could have been leaving the planet any day he would have searched it out much earlier.

“Surely something like that would have been useful earlier.” Of course Kylo cannot just be grateful.

“As far as I was and still am aware we will be continuing our journey soon and therefore had no need for it. Is there something you’re not telling me Ren?”

“No. Now if you would excuse me I’m going to get changed. I’m sure you can start on getting the food ready by yourself.” There is a coldness that fills Ren that had not been there even in the rest of their tense conversation. Hux fears it means that he is lying. “If you could find the net so I could set it up tomorrow it would be preferable.”

Hux resists the urge to tell Kylo that he can go find the net himself. He knows one of them needs to be the bigger person if they are to get through this. He doubts it will be Ren.

So he prepares the fish, separates what they will not eat for later, and has the meal with Kylo in silence. After that Kylo retreats once more to his room and Hux descends into the troopers’ quarters to find the crate.

If they ever manage to get off the planet and sell the ship he plans on taking it with them. The deviation having taught him just how easy it is to end up on a place without society. He doesn’t want to risk ending up on one without the supplies need to survive by themselves.

The box is large and metal, made to survive even the worst crashes and come out salvageable to any surviving passengers. The rough landing they experienced hadn’t even been enough to dislodge it from its home.

It is only when Hux opens it and, to his relief, finds it fully stocked that he realises he feared it might have been emptied as part of the sabotage. Sure, they had left everything else on the ship untouched, but the box was something that could actually offer them a chance of survival for longer than a handful of weeks. It is fully stocked though and the two nets are where they are supposed to be: folded up in the base of it.

Hux digs them out and returns everything else back into the crate. He will return to it later and take the animals snares out. It might be a good idea to gain a surplus of food if the planet is willing to provide. In case the next one they arrive at is less kind.

He places the nets onto the table in the main room, and, sure enough, the next morning both they and Kylo vanish into the forest.

The next few days fall into a pattern and cycle. With Hux and Kylo spending most of their time within the ship working on their separate tasks. Hux only leaving to smoke, and Kylo to check the nets for fish and fiddle with the mechanics in the underbelly of ths ship. It is horribly domestic and Hux hates how easy it is for them to fall into it. It makes him feel complacent and lazy. He should be doing something other than cleaning, smoking, and drinking. After the third time of watching Kylo disappear into the forest after placing the nets he swears he will make Ren take him the next time. As much as he doesn’t want to enter the swamp itself, or really have anything to do with it or the forest, he knows Ren cannot do the task himself indefinitely. If they are stuck on the planet for long enough for Kylo’s pregnancy to progress to the point where he cannot go fishing any longer Hux does not want to have to return to consuming rations. He needs to know where the fishing grounds are at the very least.

He knows there is little point pressing the issue to Kylo the second he comes back. He will not be able to convince him in his first attempt. Ren is too stubborn to admit that Hux is right even when it is obvious. There are a few days until Kylo will leave to go empty them again and Hux can convince Ren to allow him some of the secrets of the planet in that time.

He may not be sensitive to the Force but he is just as trapped on the planet as Kylo. It is only fair that he learns the secrets of it that do not require the Force to see. It is only fair that he is allowed into the loop of knowing what exactly is going on.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapters opening friendly reminder: this is from Hux’s POV, therefore Hux’s bias influence the way things are thought about. We do have a bit of unreliable narrator here people, not much but a little. 
> 
> Also, see it was good that I ended the last chapter where I did. Seeing the event that needed to happen before continuing took up... this whole chapter. 
> 
> I think one more chapter and things will start speeding up again. I really don’t think the whole fic is going to stay at the speed it’s currently taken up. 
> 
> Finally – this marks the final chapter of the original planned length. As we can clearly tell we’re a little bit off being finished... so... that was clearly a delusion of mine.

Hux wakes to the sound of alarms blaring.

His brain quickly processes the most likely reason for them: they’ve been found. Somehow one of the groups looking for them has found them and likely has the ship surrounded. They will be overpowered and killed or brought back with whoever found them to be executed for their actions.

If he and Kylo manage to defeat whoever found them then they will be able to take whatever ship they arrived on and get off the planet. Kylo can still fight and Hux knows that the ex-knight of Ren had long ago mastered the ability of cutting through large numbers of enemies. It was the reason he assumed the Supreme Leader kept him around. They will likely overpower whoever is attacking. So long as the attackers had not taken Ren by surprise or he had foolishly misplaced his lightsaber in trust of the planets lack of real threats.

Hux supposes that no matter the final outcome at least he will not have to endure the planet for much longer.

He grabs the blaster on the bedside table just as he realises the siren is not the one signalling intruders but mechanical failure. Hux hopes it is mechanical failure caused by intruders because if it is not it does not signal an increased chance of getting off the planet.

He takes the bluster with him and goes to investigate. Walking into the main part of the ship he can hear the sounds of destruction coming from the cockpit, louder than even the screeching warning coming from all the speakers. Someone is doing something to the main controls and of the ship and Hux gains hope that his destruction by intruder theory is true. Gains hope that they can be defeated and their ship taken. Hope that he and Kylo can continue back onto the track of their original plan.

He approaches the cockpit ready to kill whoever is in it before they have a chance to warn any allies that he is awake.

He finds he is right – there is somebody destroying the controls of the ship.

It isn’t intruders.

The consul sparks as Kylo brings his lightsaber down onto it again and again. Cutting and slashing at every part of it.

Hux remembers similar destruction being brought upon the Finalizer back before everything that happened to set them on the path that led them to this planet. Remembers the petty temper tantrums that Ren was prone to randomly throw – unpredictable both in their timing and target.

He had almost forgotten how violent Kylo could be during their time on the planet. Forgotten how the omega had a temper to rival most alphas when all he had dealt with for the past month had been stubborn passiveness. He remembers now though, as Kylo takes his anger out on the ship.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He has half a mind to just shoot Ren like he intended to do with whoever was destroying the consul to stop him. He doesn’t. Justifying it to himself that Ren is still the only chance they have to get off the planet.

“It’s useless.” Kylo stops actively destroying the consul but his lightsaber stays on, crackling just as loudly as what remains of the consul.

“What are you talking about Ren? Tell me what could have possibly happened to cause this to be a reasonable response?” There obviously isn’t one. There is nothing that has happened. Especially not on a scale that would make destroying the consul of the ship a justifiable response to it.

“The ship. It’s useless.”

“Well it is now that you’ve decided to smash it.” It is easier to be angry then realise what a destroyed consul means. It is easier to fight with Kylo for his latest bout of stupidity than contemplate the fact that without a working consul the ship isn’t going to be able to fly even if Ren managed to fix the sabotaged piece. Rage easier to deal with than the hopelessness that Hux tries to ignore at the truth he knows this means.

“It was useless before I did this,” Kylo says and he finally shuts down the lightsaber. “Without the piece the rest might as well be scrap.”

“Yes, but I thought you were fixing it.” Hux knows he is snarling but he doesn’t care. Fixing the piece had been Ren’s task. The thing that was the most important job of his life and it appeared he had fucked it up just like everything else. Hux shouldn’t have agreed to any of the plan. Kylo Ren was a fool and he knew it. He should have predicted a plan originating from him would end up with Hux in a situation like this.

Sure he had needed to get away from the First Order himself before it fell dragging him with it. There were other ways to do it without tying himself to Ren and the bastard child he was carrying.

“I believed I could but I have since discovered that they managed to damage the one piece of the ship that I cannot repair with what else is on the ship.”

There is not getting off the planet in the ship.

The finality of it hits Hux harder than he thought it would. He knows he had rising doubts in the previous days. Kylo’s sullenness and silence making him start to think that maybe things weren’t going as smoothly as he would like. Still, there had been hope that it was merely one of Ren’s moods. Or perhaps just a difficulty in the repair that meant it was going to take longer than Kylo wanted. Now there is no potential comforting thoughts. Now Hux knows that the hope they would be flying off the plant in the foreseeable future was no more.

“So what do we do now?” It was Kylo’s plan to take the ship across half the galaxy to be sold at a specific port. If they had of just gone to the next planet to dump or sell it they wouldn’t have to deal with the problem of the sabotaged piece because any new ship they purchased wouldn’t be sabotaged. Kylo can fix the problem they ran into as a result of his decision.

“There is nothing we can do.” Hux isn’t so enraged to miss the failing of Ren’s voice. He just doesn’t care. If it hadn’t been for Ren Hux wouldn’t be in the position he is in currently. He therefore has little sympathy for Ren’s emotions regarding the matter.

“Well think of something or is this just another mess of yours that I have to clean up?”

“Of course, because nothing about this is any way your fault?” Ren shoves past Hux and going to his room. Fleeing to his room like the coward he is. Leaving Hux alone with the steaming remains of the consul and a blaster useless to protect him from the actual danger he had faced.

He wants to storm after Kylo. A immature part of him wants to scream and yell and demand that Ren tell him he is lying. Demand that Ren make up for the situation he has put them in. There isn’t any going back though. No way to turn back the clock and change the situation into one where they aren’t stranded on an inhabited swamp planet with no plan as to get off. He knows better than to believe Ren would lie about something like this. No. No amount of screaming or yelling will fix this situation. Hux isn’t some screeching harpy who yells just for the sake of yelling.

No. He is the alpha in the situation and it’s about time he started acting like it.

He returns his blaster back to its home on his bedside table as he waits for the sparking of the consul to die down. Kylo might be efficient in destroying things, however he isn’t always thorough. If he missed the communications systems Hux will be able to send a distress signal out. Not that there is anyone he can think of that he wants to receive the signal, but Hux would prefer to face off against an unsavoury being than continue having to exist within the forest and swamp land.

He returns to find the sparks finally settling down and starts his assessment of the damage Ren had brought with his temper.

He is right in the fact that it looks worse than it actually is. That doesn’t mean that Kylo had done little damage to the consul, just, it wasn’t completely useless. Even if the piece had been fixed there is still little chance of them being actually able to get off the planet with the consul in the state it is in, but a lot of the secondary functions seem relatively untouched.

Hux quickly focuses his attention onto the comms and signal controls. The long distance signal controls are fried, and spark when he even so much as looks as them. There is no way to input a frequency to send a message to a particular recipient. Not that Hux can think of a recipient to send the message to.

The short range one though. It still works.

The signal won’t reach far, likely not even to the next planet over. It will however reach far enough out to get outside the planet’s atmosphere for a decent distance. So long as a ship travels by the planet they should hear it.

Hux’s finger hovers over the switch. He wonders what sort of beings would travel this part of the galaxy anywhere near frequently. It certainly doesn’t seem like the sort of area that reputable beings come close to regularly. Is he perhaps only attracting more danger to them?

The other option is to just stay silent and stuck on the planet indefinitely. There is no signs of anyone landing on it before them ever, except for the hut that Ren had apparently found the forest.

Hux flicks the switch.

As far as he can tell the signal goes out cleanly. There is nothing more he can do in order to further the goal of getting off the planet. All they can do is wait and see if anyone picks it up and decides to come down. Either to help them or try to take advantage of their desperate state. A part of Hux hopes it is the later. He could do with having someone to take out his anger on. And anyway, then he won’t have to feel even remotely guilty about stealing their ship after killing them.

Next he moves to Kylo’s room, knocking on the door in order to get the likely sulking omega’s attention.

“What do you want?” Kylo calls out, and Hux supposes their might be a wetness to the words as if Kylo has decided to fill every cliché of the emotionally distraught omega. While Hux supposes he does have the time to play that game, he doesn’t have the patience.

“For you to come out and face me.”

He waits for a minute, and just as he’s sure Kylo has chosen to ignore him and goes to knock and make the demand again the door slides open.

“What do you want?” Ren demands, drawing himself to full height in what Hux supposes is an attempt to hide the fact that his eyes are red-rimmed and cheeks flushed. He has been crying and Hux resists the urge to sneer over the fact that at the end of the day Kylo Ren is an omega just like any other. Weak willed and pathetic when things become difficult.

“Tomorrow you are going to go fishing and you are going to take me with you.” As much as he hates the idea of venturing out into the swamp he needs to take control of it before it is too late and Kylo too pregnant to even teach him the skills necessary to ensure their food supply lest they have to return to rations.

“No,” Kylo sneers out.

 “This isn’t something that is up for debate Ren. Seeing as we are stuck here until somebody manages to find us you are going to need my help in collecting the food, and as such will need to show me where to get it from. That is what we are doing tomorrow.”

“I can do it myself.”

“Yes, currently you can. But for how much longer? Soon enough that child you’re carrying is going to make you swell up and you won’t be able to go gallivanting around the forest anymore. I am sure you don’t want to have to return to rations when that happens.”

The words seem to sink into Kylo and his attempt at maintaining even a fake appearance of power melts away. Hux wonders if he had even thought about it. He must have, or else he likely wouldn’t have dragged Hux along with into the plan. It seems he had forgotten about it, and it all is hitting him now that Hux has reminded him. Good. At least it shouldn’t be too much of a battle to get him to agree with Hux’s request. At least he should realise how necessary it actually is.

“I can continue being able to complete it until we find another way off this planet.”

“There is only one way off this planet and that’s if someone responds to our distress signal. Seeing how you destroyed all our long range communications it only leaves a local distress signal. How commonly travelled is this part of space Ren? How long do you think it will be until someone comes close enough to read it who is also willing to take the time out of their journey to investigate? You won’t be able to continue for much longer. Do you really think someone will find us first?”

Hux doesn’t really want to think about it. Doesn’t want to think about how desperate their situation really is. However he needs Kylo to understand, or else the fool will keep deluding himself to try and keep the secrets of the planet away from Hux. As if that is something more important than surviving.

“You could never understand this planet the way I do. It is not meant for those who cannot connect with the Force.” He is reaching, trying to give a reason why he cannot pass the task over to Hux. A power grab that they both know will fail.

“I don’t need to ‘understand’ it.” He never much cared about ‘understanding’ planets. All he ever wanted to know was what potential use they had for him and how he could best obtain it. “I just need to know where to fish on it. Surely you don’t need to be able to ‘connect with the Force’ in order to check some nets Ren.”

Hux waits patiently as Kylo tries to find a rebuttal to his argument. He knows there isn’t one and that, even as petulant as Kylo can be, he will have to admit that Hux is right. It takes a while and Hux watches as emotion after emotion washes over Kylo’s face. The omega’s face easily giving away the anger, pain, desperation, that is going through his head as he thinks through whatever it is he has to think through before he will agree to Hux’s plan. Hux has no need to push or rush him. He can wait for Ren to admit defeat in however much time it takes him.

“Fine,” Kylo says after what is a ridiculously long time.

“Good,” Hux says, before leaving Kylo to the sulking he will no doubt be doing. Hux cares little about that fact. He is too busy being satisfied at finally gaining control again. Finally having things re-establish themselves to him holding the power.

He has a drink to celebrate. His mind still high off the victory before it remembers the reason for it. The high passes and the reality of the situation comes settling back in.

They aren’t getting off the planet in this ship.

They are likely not getting off the planet anytime soon.

Hux finds himself stumbling to the landing ramp and opening it. Millicent comes out of wherever she had hidden herself, likely in avoidance of Ren’s wrath, and runs out into the forest. He hopes she enjoys it out there because they aren’t going to be leaving anytime soon. It is only fair that one of them gets pleasure from being stuck on the planet. He knows he certainly isn’t pleased at the idea, and has a feeling neither does Kylo.

The swamp is just as damp and horrible as it always is. As much as it has become a familiar sight it doesn’t change the nature of it. Nor does it change Hux’s. He doesn’t know how much longer he is going to be on the planet for, but he knows that even if it is forever he is never going to ever grow fond of the ecosystem.

He knows he is going to have to go out into it the next day in order to learn how to take food from it. Knows that he is likely going to have to step foot in the dirty water of it. He will mould it just like he has every other domain of his. That doesn’t mean he has to enjoy or like it.

There are some things he may learn to like in the new life he has chosen, but the swamp isn’t one.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relatively light chapter, at least in regards to the previous one, most of the heavy stuff is just like the memory/knowledge of the previous things that have happened. No new horrible thing shows up here. I modified mangrove fishing to make it grosser for the purposes of this chapter. I don’t think any of you really expect 100% realism from an omegaverse mpreg story though. 
> 
> Time to start moving into the other part of the fic and you know Hux becoming “protective and concerned” over “annoyed”. I’ll try to do it as smoothly as possible but you know, there might be some clunkiness because I accidently made him too harsh at the start.

Hux scowls down at the clothes he has laid out on the bed. He’s just going fishing. Maybe not even that. What he is wearing hardly matters and yet he finds himself contemplating his decision so carefully. The lack of other tasks to do on the ship allowing him the time to consider it much more than he has ever allowed himself in life. He can spend the morning contemplating what clothes he will wear because the only other task he has for the day is the one he is dressing for.

He realises it really doesn’t matter. No matter what he wears the swamp water is going to be able to soak through it. No matter what he wears the clothing will end up drenched in the filth of it. No matter what he wears he will end up stinking of it. He hopes a shower will wash it off but he fears he will never be able to chase the stench off him once he steps foot into the swamp itself and not merely the forest that surrounds it.

He is just delaying the inevitable.

He dresses with the same briskness he always has. Just because he doesn’t want to do the task in store for him doesn’t mean he will slouch in a basic tasks such as dressing.

The clothing he wears is something he’d previously used for exercise. He doesn’t have robes like Ren. The only heavier clothing he possesses is the uniform he wore the morning they left and the winter coat he packed. Both of which will only hinder him in water unlike what Kylo’s clothes apparently do.

Once dressed he walks into the hall and knocks on the door to Ren’s room. “You better be ready because we’re leaving.”

The door opens to reveal Kylo, dressed and bored looking. He can feign composure all his wants, Hux can see the trashed state of the room behind him. See the overturned workbench and smashed pieces of electronics all over the floor. Evidence of the tantrum that he had heard Ren pick up again during the night.

“I have been ready a while,” Kylo says as he starts heading towards the ramp of the ship, apparently expectant that Hux will follow. “I was merely waiting on you seeing you were so insistent you would join me. If I had of known you would take so long I would have waited to get ready for a bit. I could have spent the time-“

Fixing the ship. The taunt has lost all its power now they both know how impossible it is to complete that task. No longer can Ren claim his time precious and to take priority because it is hopeless. No matter how much time he spends on it the ship will likely never fly again. Instead they must wait and hope someone else comes to the planet if they are ever going to get off it.

Hux knows he should be disappointed at the fact and he is. He cannot however deny the small bit of glee he gets from it though. The fact that Kylo is just as useless in their current position as he is. They are stuck together and Kylo is as reliant on him as he is on Kylo. Equals at last.  

At least they will be as soon as Kylo shows Hux where he has been fishing.

“You realise I’m not going to let you take over right away?” Kylo says as the two of them walk down the ramp of the ship.

“You are more than free to keep doing this until you are unable.” The last thing Hux wants is to have to spend more time within the swamp water than he has to. Once he knows what needs to be done he’ll happily give the job back to Kylo until the pregnancy reaches a stage where he is no longer able.

The forest is just as dank and horrid as Hux remembers the sole other time he willingly walked out into it the night after they first arrived on the planet. When Kylo had first vanished into it and Hux had searched him out. It doesn’t appear to have changed at all despite the time they had spent on the planet. Feels just as miserable as it did then. In a way Hux feels cheated. Feels like now they know they cannot escape the forest should change. Either to maliciousness or friendliness Hux does not know.

The swamp forest remains a swamp forest though. As if in mocking for his wishes otherwise.

He follows Kylo though the forest trying to learn the path and which tree or rock he needs to turn at. There’s no path to follow. Nobody having come through recently enough to leave one carved out and Ren’s travels have not yet created one. He wonders how Kylo knew the way the first few times he made it to the lake. He knows if he asks the response will be some comment about the planet and its apparent relationship to Force-sensitives. He supposes it’s probably true.

They stop at the edge of the swamp water.

“The nets are over there,” Kylo says, point across the body of water to an edge of it that has a build-up of dirt creating a mini-cliff over the water with the roots of the tree hanging down into it. Ren moves as if to walk into the water.

“We’re swimming across?”

“Yes,” Kylo says giving him a wilting look as if he’s the stupid one.

“Why not walk around to it and _then_ get in the water?” He knows wanting to avoid the swamp completely is pointless but he sees little reason to spend more time in it than absolutely necessary.

“The undergrowth is too thick. You can’t make it all the way over there,” Kylo replies as he continues wading into the water, until it is coming up to his knees. The algae that covers it catching on his leggings just above the waterline from the waves his movements create.

“Couldn’t you cut a path?”

“I could but that would take time and-“ Again, the old argument is caught only moments before it is stated and they are both really forced to acknowledge the reality of the situation again. “I previously did not have that time. I shall ensure to cut a path in order to make it more pleasant for you in the future. For now though, you are unfortunately going to have to swim over.”

Hux knows he has stalled it as long as he can. Knows that he has no choice but to enter the swamp with Kylo to complete the task he demanded to join.

He watches the algae part around his boots when he steps into the water. Watches it parts and then cling up the legs of his pants as he trudges to knee depth next to Kylo. His boots keeping the water out for only a minute before it starts to leak through the top of them, filling his socks with it until his feet feel as submerged as they actually are. The floor of the swamp is thick but weak. Hux’s feet sink into it with every stop forcing him to tug them out to walk. It makes his pace slow and heavy. There is no grace to be had in water like this.

Kylo for his part waits for him to make those early steps. “It drops off in a couple more steps,” Kylo says. The ‘be careful’ unnecessary to voice nor wanted by either of them.

Hux lets Kylo go ahead and watches as he trudges through the knee-deep water and filth before suddenly dropping down and having to tread water to keep afloat. The algae now rests against his neck and clings to his chin, where it hits creating a small green beard. Hux knows it’ll get caught up in his beard and he’ll be unable to be freed from the smell until he manages to wash all of it out. A task he is not looking forward to.

Still he follows Ren’s path. Carefully taking each step until he finds the edge of the shallow so he doesn’t end up submerged by slipping into it. When his foot doesn’t find sludge but instead more water he knows he has found it and carefully moves so he too is treading it, feeling the algae tickle his neck and collect in his beard. The putrid scent of the swamp mere inches from his nose.

Kylo watches him as if he finds Hux’s reaction entertaining. A second later he is glancing at the bank with the fearful expression he so often holds on the planet. “Come on,” he says and starts to swim across the water. When Hux looks back there is nothing but trees and moss-covered rocks for as far as he can see. He wonders what Kylo thinks he sees to raise the reaction from him. Once again he wonders what it is about the planet that keeps the usually stubborn Ren so on edge.

It is not hard to swim across the water, just gross. The algae and filth that float to the surface of it do little in slowing one’s swimming. It just clings to the flesh and clothe that pass through it. Hux wonders if, should he looks back, he will see a path of clear water along the surface where they have passed through or if more will have just floated and formed over it. He wonders what he will see should the top be cleared. Murky blackness or an indication of what apart from the fish Kylo catches calls the water home? Not that he is that worried about it – Kylo seems more spooked by what might be in the forest surrounding than the water itself. Surely by now he would have found out if something sinister lurked in the depths as well. Omega instincts and all, protecting both himself and the child within him. Then again, Ren is unusually spooked by the planet. He might miss real danger because of his paranoia about whatever it is that is keeping him on edge.  

They reach the other side of the swamp and Hux finds that there are parts of the water shallow enough for him to not have to keep treading it. However he is still submerged to his neck and the uneven ground means that he has to catch himself at times to stop from slipping under.

Kylo doesn’t seem to struggle at all with his footing and Hux supposes it is the _Force_ that allows him to find solid footing so easily.

“So where are the nets?” There is no evidence of them as far as Hux can see. He will admit however that it would be easy for him to miss any indicators of them. The sun being blocked by cloud and overgrowth making the lighting poor, vines and moss covering just about everything and turning it all into merely various shades of green and brown. The planet is not one that encourages clear vision at the best of times and Hux swears it is a particularly foggy day.

“Under us,” Kylo says before taking a deep breath and submerging under the muck. Hux is glad they are alone on the planet if only for a moment. At least nobody will see the expression of disgust he no doubt pulls at it.

He can’t see where Kylo is with the algae and muck filling the water and hindering his view of what is underneath the surface. No indication of where he is or what he is doing until he surfaces again, the algae clinging to his hair and one of the nets being pulled up from the depths in his hand.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of getting dirty?” he asks once he looks at Hux again and Hux can only assume his expression of disgust must have returned.

“How do you know where they are?” Hux asks instead of replying to Kylo’s question.

“They are hooked up in the roots. You just have to feel along until you find where they are tied to,” Ren explains as he starts to work the net through his hands, removing the fish that are caught up in it and putting them in one of the woven bags. “What are you waiting for? There’s one more down there and you were the one who wanted to learn how I caught the fish.”

There is a smugness about Kylo and Hux supposes he deserves it. Ren is right in the fact that Hux had been the one that demanded he let him join in this trip. He could have delayed the inevitable for longer. But instead had pushed out of his frustration at the news that they would not be flying off the planet in the ship they arrived in.

Hux shuts his eyes before submerging into the water himself. There is no point keeping them open. The sediment too thick to see through and Hux would prefer to try and prevent the water from getting in his eyes over maybe getting an inch of vision in the muck.

He is close enough to the roots that he can easily find them by touch alone. They are knotted and firm, and he understands why Kylo would tie the nets to them in order to keep them secure. It takes time searching along them to find where the net is attached. Hux thinks he might have to come up for air and try again before his fingers find the synthetic rope against the thick roots. Unhooking it he returns to the surface.

He futily tries to wipe away the filth of the swamp that has collected on his face as he hands the net over to Kylo. “Here,” he says before realising his mistake as the water finds its way into his mouth. Tasting just as bad as it smells.

Kylo hands the net back to him along with the bag that already has the fish from the other net. “You empty it. I have to put the other back.”

With that he submerges back into the water and Hux does as he was told. It’s not a hard task. Merely removing the fish tangled in the net and placing them in the bag. Nor is it a long one. Hux finishes just as Kylo comes up from the water.

“Give it here,” Kylo says and for a moment Hux assumes he means the net and that he is going to replace it. When Ren instead reaches for the bag, Hux guesses that means he will have to submerge again in order to return it to its current home.

“What are you doing?” he asks as Kylo ties the bag up into the low hanging branches of the tree overhanging the water. It is high enough that the bag does not even touch the water – the fish inside slowly suffocating without water filling their gills.

“I have to show you how to reattach it. Unless you want the nets to float off and get lost in the swamp somewhere?”

Hux didn’t. Still, “you don’t trust me to be able to figure it out myself?” Kylo had managed, and he doubts in this area he is any less skilled then him. He isn’t completely devoid of survival training or instinct.

Kylo gives him yet another wilting look and Hux is honestly getting tired of the excursion being filled with them. “There’s a trick. Now come on.”

He gestures for Hux to hand over the net and Hux gives it willingly before they both sink back under the water.

Hux has to consciously will himself not to open his eyes in order to see how Kylo is knotting the net up within the submerged roots of the tree. It’s pointless opening them but the instinct is still there to be able to see it more clearly. Instead he has to rely on touch alone to follow how to tangle and tie it into the roots so it doesn’t get loose but doesn’t become so knotted it’s impossible to get back out. He’s pretty sure he could do it again by himself. At least that’s what he tells himself when he realises the alternative is having to join Kylo again and again until he learns.

When they return to the surface Kylo unties the bag from where it is in the tree branches and the two of them swim back through the swamp to the shallows.

“Where are you going?” Ren asks as Hux trudges his way back towards the edge.

“Back to the ship. Where else would I be going?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

The tubers. Kylo never returns with just fish anymore but a small collection of those as well. It’s not the perfectly balanced diet but it’s better than just eating fish constantly.

“I’m guessing we’re going to have to swim across somewhere else to obtain them?” Because that is Hux’s luck currently. Just as he thinks the situation is going to become better some complication comes up and makes everything horrible again.

“Not exactly,” Kylo says before walking through the shallows of the water towards the thicker undergrowth. Hux supposes he is supposed to follow.

They wade through the light water and mud for a bit until they move into a part of it that Hux honestly thought was on the bank from the amount of greenery covering it. It turns out to just be growing up through the water. Tall stems allowing the plants to get what little sunlight reaches this part of the swamp while their roots are buried deep in the mud that covers the base of it.

It makes moving through harder. The root systems make the ground uneven and sometimes hazardous as the roots seemed to have missed the memo that they’re supposed to stay within the ground. Hux finds his feet getting caught on the odd one, and swears each and every time it happens.

Ren at least seems to be carefully making his own way through the maze of unseen roots submerged in the depths as well. The Force apparently not protecting him as well in this as it had with the other matters to deal with the swamp. Hux is grateful to see him be normal for once in this matter.

Kylo suddenly stops and at first Hux wonders if it’s another one of the times that his habit of suddenly staring off into the distance as if he can see something that isn’t actually there. But it isn’t. His attention seems to be on one of the plants growing up from the murk and Hux wonders if it’s a new element to his weird behaviour.

“You see this?” he asks.

“Yes Ren, I haven’t gone blind in the past 20 minutes.” He wouldn’t have been able to make it through the plant-heavy part of the swamp if he had been, and that’s after one considers the fact that nothing happened that might suddenly make him blind. Still, it earns him another wilting look.

“Then remember it,” Kylo says before kneeling down into the water so his hands can reach the roots of the plant. Hux is mostly glad to see that his face doesn’t submerge. It means his won’t either.

“The tubers grow at the roots, they’re pretty easy to find. So long as you identify the plant you will be fine,” Ren says as he pulls some of the tubers out of the mud and places them in the bag.

“You try,” he says, standing and stepping away.

Hux figures it cannot be worse than the fish nets so he takes Kylo’s place and sinks to his knees, feeling the mud underneath give a little until they rest. He bends so his hands can reach the roots of the plant, forcing his face close to the water but not submerging in it. It still leaves his mouth and nose much nearer to the filth that covers it than he would ever like it to be – the stench, more powerful with the proximity, making him feel as if he can taste it.

His hands follow the stem of the plant down until he reaches the roots. Kylo’s right; it’s easy to find the tubers among them. Hux grabs a couple and pulls them out, handing them to Ren who puts them in the bag.

“That’s probably enough,” Kylo says and Hux is glad to be able to stand again. When he looks down he can see the mud on the knees of his pants. A horrid brown against the black of them. It doesn’t look like it will be too hard to wash the majority of it off but there’s always the chance it will stain them. Hux supposes it doesn’t matter if it does – it’s not like he’s exactly going to be meeting anyone he wants to impress with his appearance anytime soon.

“Is that all now?” Hux asks, hoping there isn’t some other part to their tasks in the swamp. He’s been over it for a while and is more than looking forward to going back to the ship.

“Yes,” Kylo says and Hux thinks for a moment he catches a glimpse of relief in the omega’s eyes as well.

The trip back through the swamp is just as fraught in terms of the underwater jungle constantly trying to catch their feet as it had been getting to the plants. They make it though. Finally able to leave the swamp itself.

Hux feels the water pool and soak into the ground underneath him as he stands just a meter away from the swamp water. There’s a part of him that just wants to strip all the sodden clothes off and walk back to the ship naked in hopes that it will make him feel less like he just took a swim in the putrid waters. He knows doing so is pointless. The water has more than soaked through to his skin. Even if he did take the clothing off the stench and filth of the swamp would still cling to him until he manages to wash it off. If he can wash it off.

Plus he doesn’t think Kylo would much appreciate it if he did go through with the idea.

So instead he just follows Ren back towards the ship. Not yet trusting his own knowledge of the forest to be able to recognise the correct identical rock or tree to turn at to return to the ship. Kylo has the Force to guide him and Hux would prefer to accept a role as a follower over getting lost and dying in the putrid swamp. As much as that fact grates at him as well.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter feels a bit like just a lot of small moments and time passing between them. In a lot of ways that’s basically what it is. But it had to be that way because I kind of need all those little moments to happen for later stuff in the fic and nothing really *big* is happening between them. So if it feels a bit slice-of-life that’s kind of because that’s what it’s become for the characters at this point. Also the next chapter may end up taking a similar tone (don’t know yet, because you know, it hasn’t been written) but hopefully that will be it. 
> 
> I’ve had to use a line-break within this as well because of a week passing split. And yeah I hate that I did because I haven’t used one at all in the earlier parts of the fic but I had to so it’s there and we’re all just going to move on.

Seeing the ship again makes Hux feel much more relieved than it should. It is like seeing an oasis after days in the desert. He knows in reality it is nothing like that. His situation, while personally dire, is not life-threateningly so. The ship something he knew they were going to return to. Still, after all the time in the swamp, he is glad to be back.

The ship means he can take a shower and wash the swamp water and algae off him. He doesn’t know how long it will take, considering how deep it is in his beard, but he doesn’t care. He will take as long as he needs in order to get it all out.

The sound of Kylo’s feet as he reaches the ramp reminds Hux that he isn’t the only one who will want a shower. He also remembers there is only one shower.

“You take the shower first.” He doesn’t know why he says it. He has no reason to be generous to Kylo Ren after it being all his fault they are in this mess.

He will blame the action on the pregnancy. Despite the swamp water covering the scent of it he is sure it is still able to dig into his instincts and mind. Making him want to ensure the omega as safe and comfortable as possible.

He would take it back if not for the fact doing so is admitting he made a mistake.

“If you insist,” Kylo says dryly and Hux wants to take it back. He should take it back if Ren is going to be so ungrateful at it.

“Don’t take too long. I have to take one too.”

“I won’t,” Kylo says. So condescendingly that Hux wonders if he knows that Hux had no plans of taking a short shower for him.

He refuses to rise to the bait in the comment if it is a jab at his previous intentions. Instead he takes the bags of fish and tuber from Kylo. The kitchen already stinks of the swamp from all the other bags dripping through it. Any extra water he adds unlikely to be noticed compared to if he waited in the main room. And anyway, he might as well start preparing their take.

Kylo does stick to his word and take a brief shower. Arriving in the kitchen as Hux finishes gutting the fish. Hux is more than happy to hand the task over to him before going to the shower himself.

He spends most of the shower watching the green and brown muck of the swamp sink into the drain. Making sure it all does go down the drain. When bits of it get caught on the walls he quickly washes it off. He doesn’t want to see any of it on the ship. If it is to be his home until somebody manages to stumble upon them then he wants it as devoid of the swamp as possible. As much of a refuge on the terrible planet as he can maintain.

It takes much longer than he would like to get all the muck from his beard and hair but Hux refuses to leave the shower until it is gone. Refuses to have it on his body any longer than it has to.

“I made us lunch,” Kylo says as Hux exists the shower. It is joined with a look that tells Hux that Ren noticed how long he was in the shower for. That he is aware that Hux requested he have a short one only to spend a long time himself.

No comment comes though, so Hux leaves the argument unstarted. If they are to be each other’s only company indefinitely then they might as well try and find some civility with each other.

Civility seems, at least for the meal, to be silence. They don’t even bother with small talk. Just sit and eat.

Afterwards Kylo disappears into his room and Hux is once again left with both plates to clean.

He could just leave them for Kylo to do. Fixing the ship no longer an excuse he can hide behind. It is time Ren started pulling his weight in the ship anyway. Time for their individual tasks to become shared. Hux helped Kylo with the sourcing of the food, Kylo can help with the clean-up.

He doesn’t leave the plates for Ren. He wouldn’t be able to stand them sitting there uncleaned until Kylo finally gets around to it. At least that is what he tells himself as he cleans the plates and goes for his bottle of scotch. What he tells himself as he sits on the ramp and smokes through three cigarettes – a concession to him having had to deal with the swamp.

Millicent joins him for a bit. Sitting next to him for a whole cigarette before getting bored and heading into the forest.

The next week passes in a similar manor. An uneasy pace only maintained from arguments dropped before they are really started. Kylo, at least, seems to have silently agreed to the terms of the arrangement. Dropping conversations the same as Hux. Although he normally drops them by storming off to his room.

Hux leaves him to his tantrums and more often than not finds himself on the landing ramp with liquor and cigarettes after them. The sight of the swamp as sickeningly consistent as the rest of their current situation.

* * *

 

“Are you coming?” Kylo asks, standing next to Hux on the ramp where Hux is smoking his first cigarette of the day.

“What are you talking about Ren?” There is nowhere to go. Not with the ship useless and broken. All they can do is sit and wait until somebody responds to their distress signal.

“I’m going to the nets. Are you coming?”

Of course. It probably should have been obvious to Hux from the original question. Or at least from the fact Kylo is wearing his robes. Hux blames the days blurring together for his failure to realise. The fact that every day feels the same as the one before that he hardly could tell a week had passed.

“No. I am sure you are capable of still doing it on your own.” The less time Hux spends in the swamp is for the better.

“And you know it enough that you will not require my assistance when the task becomes yours alone?” Kylo asks, his voice full of mocking doubt. “Do you even know where they are?”

Hux scowls and stands. As much as he hates it Kylo is right. It is probably for the best he gets as much practice in as possible while Kylo is still able to teach him and before the task is completely his own.

He drops and kicks out the only half-smoked cigarette. A waste, he knows. But he also knows Kylo wouldn’t allow him the time to finish it. “So are we going?”

“You’re not going to get changed first?” Kylo asks, looking him up and down. Hux is wearing the outfit that has become his default on the planet with its terrible humidity – a singlet and pants. Completely unlike what Kylo wears to complete the task nor what Hux wore the last time.

“What’s the point?” Thicker clothes didn’t keep the water out. He is going to end up soaked through in it no matter what he wore.

And anyway, he doesn’t want to give Kylo the satisfaction of waiting while he changes.

“If you say so,” Kylo says and the two of them head out into the forest and towards the nets. Hux once again trying to learn the landmarks to get there.

On the journey back from the water Hux discovers that the clothes he is wearing are actually better for the task than what he had worn last time. Sure, he got soaked through faster, but the lack of additional fabric means he isn’t as water-logged by the time they return to the ship. The water not pooling under him as much when he works on preparing the food while Kylo showers. The algae does cling more to his skin though and his own shower is once again spent with him tediously washing it off and making sure it all goes down the drain.

He leaves the shower to find Kylo having had prepared a meal and once again no comment is made about how long he took.

It all feels like an echo of the last time they went out.

He fears their lives becoming a repetitive cycle. Fears every week passing the same, all ending in the fishing trip and a quiet meal. Fears is all becoming monotony.

He cannot bare monotony.

“I’m going to lay some snares tomorrow should you need me.” He needs something to break it up. Needs something different.

“Why?”

“I don’t know about you but I am getting a bit tired of fish for every meal. Some variety will be good for us.” It will also stop every day from feeling the exact same down to the meals.

“Just don’t get lost,” Kylo says and Hux supposes it’s as close to allowance he is going to get.

The rest of the meal and night pass in the same way they have every other. By the time the next morning comes Hux is desperate for something different to fill his time.

He heads into the troopers barracks and to the metal box of survival resources. He doesn’t really know what kinds of animals inhabit the planet, and knows he is unlikely to get a solid answer out of Kylo about it, so he takes one of each trap. Depending on what succeeds, he can get more of the works that succeed out and return those not yielding any return. He knows he will need to pack everything back into the box once they have a ship to leave the planet on – they might have to abandon this ship but he has no plans of leaving the box behind. Not with how much use it might still be for them in their still uncertain future.

When he makes his way back to the main body of the ship he is surprised to find Kylo standing on the descended landing ramp. A dark figure shadowed against the fog of the forest.

“Do you plan on joining me Ren?” When the question elicits no response he makes his way down to stand next to Kylo. He’s not that surprised to see him staring off at the forest. Still the frustration at being ignored is there. “Ren.”

“What?” The glare Kylo gives him is harsh but it’s better than that glossy terrified look he gets about the forest at times.

“Are you going to come with me?”

“No. This is your idea. I am sure you are perfectly capable of completing it without any assistance.”

“I wasn’t asking for your help.”

“I didn’t say you were.” Once again Kylo drops the conversation before any argument can be started. Once again he does so by vanishing into his room.

Hux has more important things to do than care about an omega’s sulking.

It feels good to be able to say that again.

He decides it is best to set the traps up relatively near the ship. It would be easy to get lost in the dense undergrowth, both when setting up and checking the traps. Sure, there will likely be less animals passing by the traps through avoidance of the ship and its three inhabitants but Hux would rather take a decrease in potential gain than risk getting lost in the swamp.

He walks a couple of meters out before finding a place suitable for the first one. Far enough away that the ship is only just visible through the trees.

He sets up the trap and breaks one of the branches of the tree above to mark where it is hidden. He doesn’t want to have to spend hours walking through the forest trying to find them when he checks them. Wants to spend as little time outside of the ship as possible. The snapped tree branch should be enough to identify it. If not then next time he will find something on the ship to mark them more clearly.

As he walks away to find a location for the second trap he realises how weird it feels to be in the forest for a task purely his own. Every other time he left the ship and entered the surrounds it was either to find or follow Kylo somewhere. He had no want to leave and explore by himself and, as such, stayed either in the ship or immediately around it unless Ren gave him reason to head further out.

Now he is completely alone in it he realises how eerie the swamp truly is. Not enough to warrant Kylo’s reaction to it but it certainly could cause even a reasonable man to be on edge. The ever-present fog making visibility poor and turning any light into an attractive blur in the distance. The forest feels like it should be haunted despite the complete lack of other sentient life to cause such ghosts.

Hux remembers Kylo mentioning something about a shack and wonders how long it truly has been devoid of sentient life. And how likely it really is that someone will come near to it. Wonders if it is one of the few places left in the galaxy where a person can go and never be found.

He pushes the feeling aside. There is no point in being afraid. Nothing it will gain him.

Soon he will always be alone when he enters the forest. Once Kylo is too far into his pregnancy to join him and instead be forced to stay safe within the ship.

That is if someone doesn’t find them before then.

Hux really hopes somebody does.

He pushes that thought from his mind as well. Hoping hadn’t done them any good so far and he highly doubts it is suddenly going to start doing them good now.

No. The only thing he can do is take every step possible in order to survive. It doesn’t matter how long it will actually take for help to arrive they must act like it will be never.

He returns to setting up the traps. Decides, two more in, that he will bring something better to mark them with when he comes to check them. With the heavy fog and decaying forest he fears a single broken branch not enough. Anyway, he has plenty of time in between to find something suitable for the job. 

Millicent walks past him as he sets up the forth trap.

A fresh kill is in her mouth as she returns to the ship to consume it. It is definitively a rodent of some kind. Considering the place isn’t overrun with them and Hux having only actually seen them when she brings one home as a meal there must be something other than Millicent who is hunting them. Hux hopes to catch whatever that is.

He hopes whatever he manages to catch is something edible. If not this whole excursion is a waste of his time. And sure, he has a lot of time currently, but he is still loath to waste any of it. Already hates how much of it is spent idle.

Once the last few traps are set he returns to the ship to find Kylo sitting cross-legged in the middle of the main room.

“You’re meditating.”

“I was,” Kylo says dryly as he opens his eyes to glare at Hux. “Until you disturbed me. What do you want?”

“You just haven’t done that since we left.” He shouldn’t need to defend his actions but he can’t help but feel like he needs to give some justification for his statement.

Kylo looks ready to give some witty remark but he stops and reconsiders. Instead saying, “no, I haven’t.”

“And why have you decided to take it up again?” The reason doesn’t really matter but Hux still asks on the odd chance something important has happened to trigger it. He doesn’t want any more surprises. He supposes he shouldn’t have brought Kylo along at all if he had been serious in wanting that.

“I am merely looking for answers.”

If Hux had more tolerance for Kylo’s faith in the Force he might be hopeful that Kylo may find the answer to getting them off the planet. As he is he just hopes Kylo finds something that will calm down whatever it is about him and the forest that has him so on edge.

“I will not disturb you any further then,” Hux says as he goes to the liquor cabinet and finds his bottle of scotch. There isn’t much left and he will soon have to choose what he will work his way through next.

“What are you going to do?”

“Look for answers of my own.”

“Are they in the bottom of that bottle?”

Hux wants to say that he has as much of a chance finding answers there as Kylo does the Force. His want to maintain the peace between them stops him.

“It’s the only option I have,” he says instead, and makes his way down the ramp.

The view hasn’t gotten any more interesting since the last time he sat there but it is the only view he has. The only view he may have for a while.

Hux has never been a man to make peace with ideas he does not agree with. This fact, though, seems an inevitable one. He might as well stop fighting it for the time being. Save his energy for when the opportunity to change their circumstances actually arrives.

It is a hard idea to swallow. But with a mouthful of scotch Hux manages to do so.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out. Life got crazy busy (final year of a degree and all). Don’t know when the next chapter will be out either unfortunately (still in final year of degree). 
> 
> Yeah I know Hux is kind of back to being an asshole at the start of this. We’re getting there bit by bit (including a bit two steps forward, one step back). 
> 
> I feel like this chapter is as unsubtle as I can be about what is happening without Kylo actually spelling it out. 
> 
> Also I know Kylo’s a bit further along than when morning sickness normally happens. However I also know that what’s normal does not mean what happens for every pregnant person and have heard enough stories of people getting morning sickness later in pregnancy than what’s average that I think it’s fine. If it even is morning sickness that’s causing him to throw-up - I still haven’t decided yet. 
> 
> Quick warning for this chapter of wild animal harm and death.

“Your cat seems to be thriving,” Kylo says, breaking the silence surrounding the meal they are both currently eating. He sounds bitter. Like Millicent is in open defiance of him by doing so.

“What makes you say that?” Hux asks, despite feeling much the same. Millicent seemed to have found a rhythm of a life on the planet mere days after they had arrived. Had found prey to hunt and a comfortable ability to move in and out of the ship. They have been there 2 months now and Hux is only just starting to feel like he knows how their lives will be until they get rescued.

“She’s getting fat,” Kylo says bluntly, nodding over to where Millicent is curled in the corner of the kitchen.

Hux can’t argue the statement. Millicent is starting to carry more weight on her than she used to. The rodents that are now her diet apparently generous in their nutrients.

“And what do you want me to do about it?” Hux asks, refusing to give Kylo the last word in their conversation.

“Nothing. Just pointing it out.”

There are a number of things Hux wants to say in response but he keeps his mouth quiet. One of the things he has become accustomed to in their temporary life on the planet is an avoidance of Kylo’s temper. Hux avoiding saying things that he knows will only rile Kylo. Thankfully it appears Kylo agreed with that term of their survival and watches his words just as much.

The rest of their meal is had in silence. The only noticeable addition is Kylo glancing over at Millicent now and then. Her weight gain apparently bothering him.

Hux bites his tongue until he finishes eating and casually places his dishes in the sink. A pretence that it is purely convenience and not a petty power-struggle between them.

“I’m going to check the traps I set. I assume you can wash up while I do that?” Hux asks and Kylo’s eyes are quick to land on him.

There is no way for Kylo to actually refuse. The traps were set by Hux so he has the best chance of finding them. Plus, if anything, Kylo should be taking on less tasks than more considering his slowly progressing pregnancy. If Hux has a task to do and Kylo none it is obvious who should be responsible for the dishes. Still, Hux well knows Kylo has no more want to do them than him. Knows this is their final battleground for dominance. A petty debate, sure, but all they have left with the Supreme Leader’s praise no longer available as the show of victory over the other.

Hux is only mildly smug as he leaves the room without even waiting for Kylo’s reply.

He makes a stop to pick up markers for the traps. Small electronic tabs to attach to them and the reader that will map where they are in relation to him. He doesn’t know whether he will really need them but figures it’s better to have some just in case. He also grabs a bag to carry anything he has managed to catch back to the ship. Who prepares it into food might be another battle but Hux already has his arguments why it shouldn’t be him.

As he walks past the kitchen he hears the sound of running water. The sound of Kylo doing the dishes. A sound that bolsters his mood.

A mood that is immediately ruined once he is out and trying to find where he laid the traps. The trackers a necessary addition after all.

The forest all looks identical to him. It is only because Hux remembers how far from the ship he went that he can find the general area the traps will be in. After that all he has to go on as indicators the branches he broke as marks.

Hux never realised just how many branches break in a forest because of natural occurrences until after he has searched around five that hold no traps near them.

It is going to be a long day.

He almost doesn’t care that the first trap is empty, just glad he is able to find one. Almost. The fear that none of the trips will have caught anything ensures he doesn’t completely give into relief. A fear that all his work will be for nothing. And worse, the victory his failure will give to Kylo.

The second trap relieves him of that fear by containing something and gives Hux a glimpse of what Millicent has been eating. The trap contains a kind of rodent, granted on designed for a more aquatic-associated life. Certainly not the most appealing of meal, but considering the current only alternative to rations is more fish Hux figures it might be worth a try.

He puts the maker on the trap and the rodent in the bag before carrying on.

By the time the sun begins to set Hux has found, emptied, and marked most of the traps. He figures he can finish finding them tomorrow, but even if he doesn’t it isn’t that much of a loss. Although, he supposes, he should be more concerned considering their situation. They should be frugal with their supplies considering the possibility of it being a long time before they will be able to get some more. If at all. They no longer have the finances of the First Order at its peak. No longer have anything that should be considered an acceptable loss. Not when their future position so uncertain.

He will search tomorrow. But for now he has 3 rodents and a waterbird from the traps he found. So long as they are actually editable, it is food for a couple of days. A non-fish option for a couple of meals.

Kylo is waiting for him when he arrives back at the ship.

At least that is what Hux thinks before getting close and realises the reality.

Kylo isn’t waiting for him. But rather staring off into the forest in the same direction Hux came from. Staring off in that focused-unfocusedness he gets. Hux resists the urge to worry that there had been a danger near him as he searched the traps that he had not been aware of. The planet and Kylo both have a connection through the Force but that connection seems to have no effect on anyone apart from Ren. Seems to have no tangible element. Only spiritual. If there was something out there that Kylo is sensing it likely wouldn’t even be corporeal enough to have any effect on Hux. Like a ghost.

Perhaps it is a ghost.

As entertaining as that thought is Hux quickly discards it from his mind. Ghosts aren’t real even for Force-users. If they were the Supreme Leader would have contacted the Emperor for guidance. Or Kylo his precious Vader.

No. There is no such thing as ghosts. Not that Hux even cares what it is the Force is showing Kylo to have him like this. Not unless it’s a warning of a future corporeal danger.

“When you have a chance can you look over these and tell me if their edible?” Hux asks as he passes. Between Kylo’s apparent knowledge of the planet and awareness of things given by his connection to the Force Hux figures he should be able to identify whether they will be poisoned by the meat.

When Kylo doesn’t respond by the time Hux reaches the ship Hux repeats the question. He doesn’t bother hiding his annoyance at having to either. Never having patience for Ren’s rudeness.

“Kylo,” he snaps when he doesn’t gain a response again.

This time Kylo reacts. Although it isn’t to acknowledge Hux or his words. No. Kylo starts walking into the forest. Heading in the direction Hux came from.

At first Hux decides to just let him go. Kylo returned every other time he vanishes into the woods in one of his trances. Hux will leave him to it and deal with the food. Deal with the task that is required to allow them to survive with some level of comfort while Kylo tends to his fanciful _Force-guided-needs_.

He reaches the kitchen holding that conclusion. There is little chance Kylo will actually come to harm, still being perfectly capable to take care of himself. And anyway, Hux trusts him to go fishing by himself. And anyway, Hux doesn’t actually care about him.

“Kriff.”

Hux puts the bag of carcases down onto the bench in the kitchen and heads back out of the ship and in the direction of the traps, Millicent idly watching him as he passes. He doesn’t care about Kylo but he also doesn’t want to be caught by any surprises. If there is any danger possibly lurking around where the traps are set Hux wants to know about it now rather than later. Wants to know any secrets Kylo might be hiding from him. Any knowledge the Force might have told him that he failed to pass on.

Hux is right in his assumption that Kylo had headed towards the traps. The sun now half-set but even in the fading light Ren’s form is clear.

He is kneeling down near one of the broken branches Hux had searched around earlier that day but found no trap near. Kneeling but otherwise not moving.

“What would you have me do?” Kylo says, his voice cutting through the quiet sounds of the forest and swamp. Voice filled with so much emotion. The way it normally is before one of his tantrums. Hux realises Kylo’s body is coiled in the way it often is before one of his tantrums. Realises Kylo is tense with a soon to be explosive rage. The sort of ranges only Snoke could bring out.

Surely it is impossible for Snoke to be the one causing Kylo to behave as he is? Although Hux will admit he has little knowledge about matters of the Force. Had little care about it. The Supreme Leader was wise and powerful as a result of his connection with the Force. Kylo had only seemed to gain the power from it. There is a real possibility that it has been Snoke this whole time causing Ren to behave the way he has for as much as Hux is aware. A terrifying possibility considering the fact they had tried to flee the First Order and the Snoke’s rule.

There is nothing Hux can do about that if it is Snoke that is contacting Kylo. Nothing he can do if the Supreme Leader is causing the weird trances. There is no way off this planet unless someone else comes to it. They are trapped until someone else acts.

For now all Hux can do is prefer it if Kylo didn’t throw his potential soon-to-be tantrum right where Hux spent so much time and effort laying and marking traps out. He knows how futile it is to try and stop Kylo however. No matter what Hux says or does, if Ren is about to go on a destructive rampage he will.

Hux just hopes he forgot to bring his lightsaber with him.

Hux stands watching Ren, waiting for the inevitable. He doesn’t know why. It’s not like he particularly enjoys baring witness to Kylo’s destructiveness. Certainly won’t enjoy it when it lays waste to his work. Yet he cannot bring himself to turn around and go back to the ship.

The tantrum doesn’t come.

Hux stands there for several minutes and yet Kylo doesn’t move. Instead seeming intensely focused on something. Muttering uncatchable words that seem angry in tone.

Hux’s curiosity gets the better of him and he dares to move closer. He doesn’t know if it is to hear the words or see what Kylo is focused on but he does move closer.

If it is to hear what Kylo is saying Hux is quickly disappointed as Kylo goes quiet as he approaches. Hux would assume it is because Ren hears his approach if not for the fact Kylo gives no other indication of awareness of Hux’s presence. Instead choosing to glare at something in front of him. Something Hux cannot see.

Perhaps ghosts are a possibility after all.

Ren’s position does reveal one thing though. The broken tree-branch Hux had concluded likely caused by natural causes after searching around it to no avail was actually one of his previous attempts at markers. There had been a trap that he just hadn’t found.

A trap that had apparently caught something bigger than the rodents and birds that the others had.

It is hard to clearly see what was in the trap. The already poor light of the setting sun made worse by Kylo’s form casting a shadow over the trap and creature. But Hux is pretty sure he recognises what it is. A cat with its leg stuck. Alive and distressed at the situation and fact that there is an even bigger creatures kneeling over it.

Kylo glares harder at the air in front of him but he reaches down and releases the trap. Freeling the cat that quickly races off into the forest, the need to get away apparently stronger than the pain in its legs that would have been caused by the trap.

“Happy now?” Kylo asks. Voice filled to the brim with malice.

“What makes you think I care about whether you free a cat or not?” They have enough food if the other animals are edible. Technically enough even if they aren’t. Hux would just prefer an option other than fish or cheap rations to eat.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Kylo snarls but Hux catches the way he startled before it. Ren hadn’t known he had been there until Hux had spoken. Had once again been unaware of anything else until Hux had snapped him out of the trance.

Hux doesn’t get a chance to reply before Kylo is up and pushing past him. Storming back to the ship in a rage. Hux hopes nothing is destroyed as a result of it. They are running out of useful parts of the ship, the next one Kylo ruins might take with it the remaining advantages gained of staying in it. Might force them into the forest not just to gain food and water but for good.

Hux makes sure to place one of the markers onto the trap before making his own return to the ship. He doubts he will forget the location of this particular trap after what happened but he will not fail to mark it just in case. It is not that much effort on his part considering he forgot to leave the markers behind before going in search of Ren. It also wastes a minute that will hopefully mean Hux won’t have to deal with Kylo and his temper when he returns to the ship.

The ship is silent when Hux returns to it. The door to Kylo’s room being closed the only indication as to where he had gone upon his return although no sound of violence escapes from it. Perhaps they have all avoided an explosion from the rage that had built up in him.

So long as Ren is quiet Hux cares little.

He supposes he will have to deal with the carcases himself though. He had hoped the fact he had caught them would be enough to have Kylo deal with them. After what happened in the forest Hux doubts his chances of convincing Kylo no matter how good his argument. He will just have to deal with preparing the meat and hope Kylo in a better mood the next time Hux checks the traps.

After finishing preparing the meat and putting it into storage to be able to be used later Hux goes to take a shower. He lets the water wash away the filth of the forest and meat from his skin. After that he grabs the half-empty packet of cigarettes and half-drunk bottle of scotch, opening the ramp and taking them to his usual seat halfway down.

He deserves this break. Deserves the three cigarettes and mouthfuls of scotch that chase them. He has done more work that day than he had since he had left the First Order. A shameful thought, if he is honest with himself. Although one he feels the blame cannot truly fall on him for. There being very little work to do on the planet currently. Very little work until something happens that might allow them to leave.

Still Hux has work to do the next day. The remaining few traps still need to be found.

As such he doesn’t stay out on the ramp for much longer than it takes him to finish the last of the trio of cigarettes. It’s not like the view is anything he particularly wants to soak in. Sleep is a more pleasant option than that.

So Hux retires to his room and bed.

When he wakes in the morning he walks out of his room to the sound of retching coming from the still-open bathroom door. Walking over to it Hux finds Kylo kneeled over the toilet emptying his stomach. Obviously having neglected to close the door in his rush to get to the receptacle in time.

“I can see the pregnancy has finally caught up to you,” Hux says, standing by the open door. It is a little strange openly talking about it. Normally he would merely imply the fact of it by other comments. However, the situation feels like one to bring it out into the open. To stop dancing around it as if it still might not be real. As if it might just be something concocted up in Kylo’s head.

“Just food poisoning from your incompetent cooking,” Kylo snaps back before puking again.

“There is no need to be rude Ren,” Hux says as he enters the bathroom. “Morning sickness is a perfectly normal part of pregnancy. Even I know that.”

Kylo doesn’t respond with words but the increased tension in his body betrays how little he wants Hux to be there. Hux pays it little mind as he goes over to the sink and takes out a face-washer. Wetting it before handing it down to Kylo.

“Here.”

Kylo gives him a weak glare out of the corner of his eyes before noticing the item being handed to him. “What?”

“Put it against your forehead – it will help.”

“I know,” Kylo snarls but apparently decides to actually consider his next words. “Thank you.”

“See that wasn’t so hard,” Hux cannot help but say, even as he rummages through the cupboard to find one of the glasses that didn’t break when they crashed onto the planet. He fills it up before placing it next to Kylo, close enough that he should be able to find it but far enough away that it is unlikely to be accidently knocked over.

Kylo doesn’t give any acknowledgement of the glass but Hux allows it considering Ren is once again hurling his stomach contents into the toilet. Something Hux has little interest continuing to be witness to.

Still Hux does need the bathroom himself. He will acknowledge, however, that it is unfair for him to request or demand Kylo relocate to the crew’s bathroom considering he seems unable to stop vomiting. Anyway, Kylo likely wouldn’t make the whole trip without needing to empty his guts again and Hux is sure they’d both prefer not to have to clean that up. It’s safer for Hux to just use the other one.

The crew bathroom is less appealing than the main. A purely practical room that has everything required crammed into the smallest space possible. Hux would prefer to be in the main bathroom that has the aesthetics and features to impress potential guests on the ship. But this one is more than apt to complete his morning requirements.

By the time Hux returns to the main living space Kylo had apparently stopped vomiting and is instead in the kitchen. Hux joins him if only to satisfy his curiosity as to why Kylo moved there.

“They’re both edible,” Kylo says and Hux enters, nodding to the stored meat from the traps, answering Hux’s request from the day before. It’s good news and means Hux’s efforts were not in vain.

Still, Hux can’t bring himself to feel too smug about it. As good as a variety of food is the options are still far from the most appealing things. Hux misses the meals from the First Order. Misses meetings with potential allies held over extravagate dinners that were as important of a part of the negotiations as the words said over them.

 “We should have a soup tonight,” Kylo says, breaking Hux away from his thoughts of the food he misses and onto what food is actually available for them to eat and what they could potentially do with it.

“Do you know how to make that?”

“Do you?” Kylo asks, with heavy defensive-bitterness, making Hux have to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “It can’t be that hard.”

“Then I shall leave you to it,” Hux says, grabbing one of the ration packs. The sooner he is out of the kitchen the better.

“Where are you going?” Kylo demands.

“To find the last of the traps. We might get lucky and have something else to eat.” Hux doesn’t know what their chances are of obtaining a better option but while there is room in storage they should stock up in case something happens and the supply of food is no longer as steady. In case they find a way off the planet and need food to last them until they can land somewhere to obtain more.

Kylo glares at him for it, but allows Hux go. Hux knows the reason for the glare. The situation is one that reeks of traditionalism. The omega staying inside to cook while the alpha goes out to hunt. Hux knows Kylo did not appreciate traditional roles. Knows Kylo fights them as hard as he can.

But there was a reason for the roles to be shaped out as such. And Kylo’s current situation, as well as how he got there, is an almost perfect spelling out of it. It will be impossible for Ren to be able to go out and check the traps or fish soon. For him to be able to still contribute to their continued survival he will have to take up the domestic tasks. The fact Kylo doesn’t want to be forced into that role doesn’t really matter.

Hux has no doubt as soon as Kylo is once again able he will jostle for his old tasks back. The attributions of a traditional omega so against his actual personality.

Until then Hux plans on enjoying Kylo’s force placidity. Will enjoy having him cook while Hux checks the traps. Enjoy the advantage it gives Hux in their small battles for power.

There is little other pleasure Hux can gain from the tasks. He hates going out into the swamp despite it being a necessity for them to be able to have some variety in their diets. A necessity to not be eating rations for every meal. Considering how Kylo will not have the ability to do the tasks soon though Hux has to deal.

And anyway, whenever he did think about a potential future omega mate Hux had wanted a traditional one. Now he doubts that will ever happen so he plans on enjoying as close as he can get to it while he can.


End file.
